The Agents of Inkopolis
by DiamondCompass
Summary: Not long after Agent 4 rescues Callie from DJ Octavio, Cap'n Cuttlefish returns from hiding to reveal that Grizzco is run by Octarians! What's more, Agent 3 has been captured! A new leader operates the Octarian race from behind, using tools and others to his advantage. Can the Agents find a way past the Octarians' technological advancements? (CURRENTLY UNDERGOING REWRITING)
1. Burst of Ink

**If you're just joining now, you'll notice an extreme quality difference between chapters. This is because a lot of them need to be seriously improved, and I plan to do so.**

 **Thanks for your patience. I'll put a notice before every chapter I've "improved." Except for this one since it should be pretty obvious.**

 **Splatoon 1 and 2 Hero Mode spoilers, of course, and I don't own Splatoon.**

 **Technically, the entire story is on paper, but I'm still writing, so hence the "In progress" mark.**

* * *

 _The Rainmaker..._

 _It wasn't meant to be held this long..._

Agent 4 jumped over another spinning punch, then charged another shot.

The Rainmaker was growing hot to the touch, and it felt like it was going to explode in a burst of ink any second.

Octavio mistakenly charged a regular punch no his Octobot. Four smirked, getting ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

She released the charge, and it connected with the fist right as it left its holster. The metal fist spun around, and once the shot exploded, it sent it flying towards the robot. The Octobot's hull groaned under the stress of punching itself yet again.

A puff of steam left its exhaust pipes, then it fell, crashing against the ground with a air-shaking riff.

Four precisely leapt to the Inkrail in front of her, then the next. The Rainmaker was burning.

It took her closer to the Octobot King, with DJ Octavio flailing in the center. She jumped and threw it down, seeing her purple eyes in its reflection for a split second, but before it hit Octavio, it exploded, sending her flying backwards into the arena below.

The ink protected her from the explosion of the Octobot King. It floated upwards in a final attempt to escape, then something inside broke, inflating the entire machine until it blew up. Octavio said something, but it was lost in the deafening noise.

Four emerged from the green ink and stared at the completely green circle at her feet. She pushed a button on her headset. "...It's done... Marie."

Marie, up above on the flying truck, pressed a button on her headpiece, nearly unnoticeable among the elegance of her old uniform. "I know, Four. I'm right here."

She brushed her lopsided hair aside, then walked forward, turning her head to try and find the Great Zapfish. It was flying, up and away through a hole in the roof.

The truck circled around once more before it landed on the arena. "We're good here, Agent 4!" said Sheldon, the master of Ammo Knights. "...I guess you're off for the rest of today?" He looked at the source of a loud conversation between the reunited cousins. They were both sitting down.

Before answering, she saw a glint in the corner of her eye. A black pair of sunglasses, designed differently than the rest she had seen in the past weeks, was sitting near the edge. She went over to them, picked them up, and examined the tool, careful to keep it a small far away from her face as possible. It was the pair of Hypno-Shades that Callie wore just seconds ago.

She took them back to the truck and held them up to Marie. "Sorry to interrupt... this, but what do we do with these?"

Marie squinted, studying them intently while Callie scooted back nervously. Marie took hold on them and stood up. "That's enough of that!" She said, throwing them as hard as she could down to the pit below. She exhaled once and giggled. "Four, can I ask your name now?"

Four shot her gaze around, looking for anyone who could hear. "Rose," she said once.

"Cod, Rose I can't thank you enough for this!" Callie said. "And, uh, sorry about the bombs."

Rose flashed a grin. "They were easy to dodge, if that makes you feel any better." She looked around. "Where's Octavio?"

"In the back, already in the globe," Marie answered. She tapped the top of the truck she sat on. "Sheldon somehow caught him up there while you were staring at literally everything else. And, uh, don't worry. It's soundproof. And locked."

"Alrighty then," Four said. "Am I off the hook for the rest of today? Like Sheldon said?"

"Go ahead," Callie said. "Unless Marie here has anything else for you."

"Leave," Marie said, crossing her arms and smiling warmly. "You're tired. Sleep."

"Good," said Four, realizing she actually _was_ exhausted.. She super jumped back to the entrance of the area, finding a light shining through the kettle.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know. Short. But it was how the original chapter 1 was, so I'll just leave it at that. The next chapters should be improved sometime soon.**

 **Also, more of the later chapters wouldn't be changed as much since they weren't as bad. This one needed a complete overhaul.**


	2. Extremely Responsible Rose

**Here's the second improved chapter. The biggest change I made here was combining two pitifully short chapters, so here you go.**

* * *

Rose's eyes fluttered open as a sliver of sunlight hit them. Her eyes wandered, surveying her apartment. Her building had the same exact layout for everyone: a combined kitchen and living room were outside her small bedroom. The window to her left, the one through which the light shined, had its curtains almost entirely drawn.

Her bed was a mess, but she really didn't care enough to fix it. Or wash the covers unless they were starting to smell bad like it did now; as it turns out, she was drooling.

"Ugh," she muttered. Sleepily, she swung out of bed and pulled the bedsheets with her. The door at the back of the room opened to a laundry machine that could generously fit each of the blankets. Separately, at least. Without noticing, she pulled the entire mattress off the bed frame before the blankets came off.

Rose shoved one blanket in, shut the machine, then wondered if that faint memory of a giant robot she took down was real or just a dream. Then she looked at herself. There was the Hero Suit. Suddenly, the memory wasn't so faint.

On a more alarming matter, the Hero Dualies were still there in their holsters. That was a problem, since they weren't technically hers.

Also, they were stronger than an everyday Splattershot. One hit could splat anyone, but the Octolings from Octo Canyon could survive a few since they had suits. Unlike her Hero Suit, however, once it was gone, so were they.

These types of weapons were illegal in Inkopolis for regular citizens. Especially since Sheldon hadn't gotten them approved yet.

The shock from seeing them woke her up entirely; she shook off the rest of the tiredness, bolted through the kitchen and living room amalgamation, and flung the entrance door open, nearly hitting someone in the process.

"Sorry!" Rose exclaimed, then she turned to run the stairwell.

"Rose," said a familiar voice, stopping her before she got anywhere. "The Dualies, right? You're fine. Sheldon says to keep 'em. You used them so many times, he got all the data he needed. Oh, and keep them out of sight."

Rose turned around warily. Turns out that there were two people she almost hit, but both were disguised. "Marie?" she asked upon hearing the voice. From the looks of it, Marie was the one with the mouth covering, so Callie was probably the one next to her with the sunglasses and beanie.

"And you really shouldn't be wearing your Hero Suit in public. How many times did I already tell you that?"

Just as Marie stopped, Rose started. "Do you live here?" She said slowly, eager to change the topic.

"Wh- Eh, never mind," Marie said. "Yeah, we do. Right there." She pointed with her thumb to the next door over. "Makes it hard to avoid the media if you live in a mansion or something, so I got this place. Anyway, we're heading out for Inkopolis Square for a reunion battle, wanna come with?"

Rose blinked as she processed that. She leaned with her back against the wall. "So, do we coincidentally live next to each other or are you stalking me?"

"And how would that go for us if the media found out?" Callie said. Yeah, that _was_ her voice. "Or her, I guess, since I was kinda out of the loop for a while. You coming or not?"

 _These two are taking this_ so _casually_.

"You know what, fine. Let me go... uh... change," Rose dropped off. "Go on ahead, I'll meet you there!" She said, slamming the door as she stepped back into her apartment.

Marie sighed. "Every single time with that Suit..."

* * *

A reticle appeared right in the middle of the two arrow story on the pavement. Shortly after, Rose landed on it, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of sunglasses.

"...and those two took over after that." Marie said, holding a finger up to the big screen on Deca Tower. "Is there anything else I'm missing? Oh, Rose. Hey. I've been catching her up." She leaned in closer. "I forgot to tell you our public names earlier. I'm Rie and she's Lie. 'Cause it's like the second syllables of our names."

Callie stepped back and stared at everything. "Yeah, that's almost it. But what's over there?" Pointing a finger at an area to the left of Deca Tower, Callie looked at both of them.

Marie squinted at the place. "...I have no idea. Never been there, but I've stared at it a lot while standing on the Manhole. Rose, you know?"

"That's... uh..." she snapped her fingers, racking her mind for a name. "Grizzco! Grizzco. Been there once, then decided it was too sketch. By the way, what are we doing?"

"I'm a bit rusty," Callie admitted, "so probably just a Turf War for now."

Rose took a deep breath. "Alright then!" She yelled with a sudden burst of energy. "Let's go!"


	3. Public Revelation

**How ironic is it that I planned a remake, cancelled the remake, then started to pretty much do the remake anyway by improving each chapter?**

 **Oh yeah, and Improved #3.**

* * *

Callie peered down the roof of Moray Towers upon emerging from the spawn point. "Does everyone still hate this stage?"

"I think so." Marie replied. "Don't see why, though. This place makes getting splatted that much more costly."

"Alright, Rie, Lie. What's our plan?" Rose said.

"I'll take the ramps going down," said Callie. "Got the Roller to cover that. Rie, take the high ground?"

"On it. Man, if only Simon was here. He'd make this a full team."

"Simon?" Rose asked. "Is that..." She peeked to make sure the fourth guy wasn't listening. "Agent 3? The one that smells bad?" She whispered.

Marie nodded. "That's him. He's on a mission with Gramps, the captain. We haven't seen him since he went to fight that one highly-trained Octoling in Octo Valley. I'm sure he's fine though. The mission was mostly secret anyway."

Rose felt a bit concerned despite that. She had seen personally what Octarians were capable of.

Out of the blue, a clap from the speakers on the side of the buildings sounded. The match started.

Since Rose had Dapple Dualies, she could quicken her descent by dodge-rolling midair. She would have been the first to reach the center, but she pivoted to the right, aiming both Dualies forward.

* * *

Callie, from the top, turned to roll over the ramps and charge her special, but she didn't know what it was.

It's symbol was on the button on the bottom of the weapon's handle, like it always was. But, however, she didn't recognize the symbol.

By the time she reached the bottom, it was charged, so she decided to hit the button.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "Rose, what's this?!"

Rose emerged from behind cover and shot over it. "Baller! Head up the enemy ramp! I'll follow you!"

Like always, the Turf War was very fast-paced. Callie followed Rose's instructions and rolled up the enemy side.

Once the two got to the wall to the left, they split. Callie kept going up the ramp while Rose climbed the wall. The Baller exploded before it could get much farther, much to Callie's surprise.

Rose reached the top of the wall, then found an enemy waiting for her. She rolled to his left just as a Splat Bomb left his hand. It tumbled down to the floor below, right next to Callie.

"Watch out!" Rose yelled as she splatted the enemy with a barrage of ink from her Dualies

Callie dove back down, dodging the explosion, but had a bad landing. She caught herself with her arms, but her sunglasses fell off. Callie was unmasked.

A loud gasp came from everyone that could see.

It occurred to Rose that the Squid Sisters hadn't publicly announced that they're fine. She wanted to say something, but no words came to mind.

Wasting no time, Callie frantically reached for her sunglasses, put them on, and super jumped away before anyone could swarm her.

Marie growled. "We're so getting banned for this," she murmured, then jumped after her.

A whistle sounded, signifying the match's end. Since one team had two more players then the other, the match was automatically cancelled due to the system detecting a heavily one-sided battle.

Rose, with nothing left to do, returned to Deca Tower. She super jumped from the enmy's side back to the spawn point, and it opened up to a tunnel leading back to the lobby. She swam through the dimly-lit tunnel. There were no turns since it led straight to Inkopolis Square.

Upon swimming out of the hole, she looked at the screen in the corner of room. "CANCELLED", it said. At least she wouldn't get penalized.

"Yeah, I had a feeling," said the other person in the lobby.

Rose turned around. "Feeling about what?"

"That they've returned. The Squid Sisters. Marie's eyes gave it away. That, and the Charger," he smiled, showing a flashy beak. "Name's Sid."

"Rose," she said. Sid looked older than she was, taller and more mature-looking. His hair was combed back, and he had an overall lanky build. "How could you tell those two were the real deal from just those two things?"

"Their playstyle was familiar to me. Marie's big on camping. It gets annoying sometimes, but only for the other team." He paused, leaning on his Brush. "That... makes me sound like a stalker. I've played matches with them before. I used to be part of the backstage staff for their concerts. At least until Callie... yeah, you get the point. Then Marie soon after..."

Rose sat down on the couch. "Well, I guess there's no need to worry now. I've never met someone so close to them before." Except for herself. "Wanna go a few more?"

* * *

 **So I'm writing this specific author's note after the long break I took. If you're not aware yet, I broke my jaw, then finals, and yeah I'm all good now. I have two updated chapters this time. #3 and #4.**


	4. Agent 3 and Grizzco

**#4**

* * *

Callie and Marie's apartment had two separate rooms for each of them. Since she just moved in, Callie's was quite bland.

"You kept my phone for me?" Callie squealed. "You always knew I'd be here again, huh?" She was happier about the notion than the phone itself, though.

Marie poked her head through the doorway. "Yeah, of course I did. What else was I supposed to do with it?" She turned back to her own room. "Now help me pick out another disguise." A sound of fumbling clothes came from her room.

Callie shouted to her from across the hall so she could hear. "Why do you need it? It was my disguise that fell off, not yours."

"Ah. Yeah, that too." Marie pulled something out of her pocket. "I got this on the way back. It's one of those stretchy things that you stick onto a pair of glasses so they don't fall off and that nobody knows the name of." She tossed it to Callie, and she swiped it out of the air.

"How about we just switch disguises?" Callie said.

The fumbling stopped. "...It's not great, but it would work for now. Toss me that stretchy thing again and _okay_ I just got a message from gramps."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Callie rushed down the short hall and turned into Marie's room. It was also quite bland, but her reason was that she spent most of her time looking for her cousin.

"Take a look at this," Marie said.

* * *

Rose stepped out of Deca Tower's ground floor, tired from several more matches. She took her Dualies, spun them around on her fingers, and holstered them by her waist.

She looked around and took a deep breath. The thrill of a Turf War was nice, but the unexpectedly tranquil hustle and bustle of Inkopolis Square was a nice change. She stepped out of the rotunda and instantly saw a someone wearing a lime green hoodie, a pink beanie, and sunglasses. It was undoubtedly Marie.

She closed the distance between them with something between a walk and a jog. "You know, if you're gonna be wearing neon, the disguise kinda loses its thing."

Without even regarding her comment, she announced, "Get your stuff. We just got a message from the captain."

She froze in place.

 _The captain?_

A second passed, but time seemed to freeze as she processed the statement "On it." It was technically her job. As the world started moving again, she super jumped to the front of her building and walked into the lobby, trying to hide her rush. She took the elevator to her floor and turned right to her room. After a frantic minute, she had her Dualies replaced with the Hero Dualies and her clothes with the Hero Suit.

From there, Rose left her apartment slowly this time to prevent any unwanted injuries and climbed up several flights of stairs to the top floor.

She super jumped again to an area directly behind Inkopolis Square that nobody had a reason to go to and navigated her way to the alley holding Grizzco. The secret agent stood against the wall right in front of Grizzco's entrance, and when she was sure that nobody was looking, jumped into the grate leading to Octo Canyon.

She sealed the grate with a metal lid from below that attached perfectly onto it, then took the plunge into the underground pathway to her destination.

After the uneventful swim, she saw both Agents 1 and 2. Callie and Marie. Except they swapped disguises.

But a third character, some old guy in rags and a hat, was what she was focused on. Rose assumed it was the Captain and their grandfather, but he looked distressed, leaning against the shack in the middle of the area. He seemed... frail. Both of the others were huddled around him.

She almost said something, then decided it would be better not to. Two backed up to her. "We just told him what happened."

"I figured," Four remarked. "D- Do you know why he messaged us? How'd you get the message?"

"Communicator. Like a phone but smaller and only texting and voice mail." She pulled something out of her pocket, never removing her eyes from Cap'n Cuttlefish.

Rose assumed it was the communicator she mentioned, since it did look like a small phone.

"We'll get you one of these later," Two continued. She cleared her throat a sinus she returned it to her pocket. "Captain." She was using a flat tone. "We can do this later. Why did you call us here?"

He regained his balance. Putting his cane on the ground, he stood back up. "Yes... I guess you're right." He moved toward Four, but his gait was strained. "This is Agent 4, right?" He didn't stop for confirmation before he saluted her. "Thank you for... your... service."

The salute itself seemed oddly informal. He was still pretty distraught, but she couldn't help that now.

"Grizzco," he started abruptly, "is run by the Octarians."

The shift in subject was a bit fast, but they knew what the place was. It was right outside of the manhole, only open half the time. Four had never worked there since her income stemmed from the people watching the battles she took part in. She'd been there once, though, and as soon as the wooden bear started talking, she left.

Strangely, people paid good money for it. She wasn't even one of the famous ones.

"That's all we figured out," he said. Something else was on his mind, that much was obvious.

"That can't be it," Two said. "You were gone for months."

 _Sheesh_ , thought Four, _hit the brakes there, he just found out his other granddaughter was brainwashed._

"Also. Agent 3 was kidnapped," he said. "I... I couldn't do anything. I tried to look for him, but nothing came up."

Four was genuinely surprised. She'd heard a lot of good things about him through Marie, now going by "Two". But her reactions were less emotive than One, who gasped loudly and yelled something too fast to be comprehensible. Then, "A lab. I... saw him somewhere! He was... asleep, didn't see me. B-but I saw him!"

Too much information was being fed to Four. To them, she was still the newbie, so this was overwhelming her. "Slow down. You remembered something? Is that possible?"

"...Apparently," said Two.

"I-I don't know! I just... never thought of him in that kind of place, and then I did, and then..." She trailed off, but the pain in her eyes was visible.

"...It's not much," said Four, "but we can start by looking where she was caught."

The strange, old captain went to her. "You've got a good head on your shoulders. Most would be afraid to say something. Here, take this." He pulled another communicator from his own pocket.

"Well, I guess not later..." Two muttered.

"Before looking for that place," Cap'n Cuttlefish started, "can you infiltrate Grizzco? We were investigating it, or at least its early stages. It wasn't official yet."

Four spoke up again. "Then that's two different potential leads. We should try Grizzco first, we know it has time limits, and I think it'll open in a couple of minutes."

"Good idea," remarked One, "but what will we use for backup if our weapons end up taken for... safety, I guess?"

Two thought for a bit. "I've seen a new model of weapon circulating recently. They call them 'Brellas' and they're pretty slim. I guess you could hide them in a jacket or something, unlike the bulky things. Four, those Dualies are already tiny, would those work?"

"Yup!" She asserted, "I can hold them inside the jacket from the front pocket."

"Prep was minimal," Two asserted, "but we'll be fine. We're posing as employees, right? Shall we head out now?"

Cap'n Cuttlefish agreed, then all three of them moved back to the man hole. "A-Agent 1!" He exclaimed, "are you sure? You just..."

She moved in closer to his ear. "Don't worry, Gramps," she whispered. "I'll be fine. I have backup now, don't I?" She moved back away, leaving the other two to wonder what she said. But she whispered because she called him "Gramps."

Nevertheless, they returned back down the manhole, leaving the captain to worry on his own.


	5. Mini Invasion

**And here you got #5**

 **Just looking back on the old chapters is a cringe-fest. Don't worry, you're not missing a thing.**

* * *

"Hey, kid," said the wooden bear, even though there were three of them, and none of them were legally kids. "How'd you like to help shape the future of Inkopolis?"

Sheldon lent them the weapons, but it took him a while to set them up. One and Two, with disguises still switched, both had their Brellas. One hid a Tenta Brella in her hoodie with a lot of slouching forward, Two held an Undercover Brella like an everyday parasol, and Four had her Dualies tucked into her jacket.

She had no disguise, though. At this point, she didn't need one. Especially since she looked like a generic passing citizen.

The Brellas were modified to use the "serious ink," or the unofficial name for the condensed ink for serious conflicts. Their Ink Tanks were hidden behind their backs. Those, too, were in their jackets, but they were thinner and held less ink as a result.

Grizzco Industries was lit with old flickering lights. Unused buoys hung from the ceiling alongside a net holding several eggs.

It was damp, too, and it smelled odd.

The nonmoving bear that was clearly just a speaker continued. "Welcome to Grizzco Industries. I'm-" Static overtook the speaker. Four tensed.

"Not yet," Two whispered as she grabbed for her Dualies.

The static cleared, and the voice started again. "You should know what to do by now. It's been a while since we opened. Come in," he insisted, as a door behind the speaker slid open. "The next boat heads out now."

The door led to a slim, unremarkable hallway lit like the main room and somehow even more damp. Water was dripping from the ceiling, but it it was so little, it didn't harm them at all.

Two led the way, but nothing happened in the short, yet long, trip.

When the hall finally opened up into slightly fresher air, a row of boats awaited them. They were still indoors, in the same general aesthetic. The boats were in a small body of water in a garage-like place. Most of them were unmoving, but one's large satellite was spinning, almost colliding with the unnecessary giant umbrella on it. They looked to be mostly metal.

"I guess that's the one," Two murmured. She kept going, and led the two onto it. Not that they needed to be led.

The ship's horn blew as the garage door opened and it left the non-traditional pier. The waters were still blue here, as they hadn't reached the Restricted Zone yet. Grizzco had legal permission to venture into the area.

They waited wordlessly. Who knew if there were speakers or cameras on the boat.

After some time had passed, the person behind the megaphone mounted on the boat spoke again. "We're here. Hop off so we can start."

Something was off. By overhearing conversations, Four always heard that they were provided gear and weapons, of which they were given neither.

Thinking that something was up, she tapped One on her shoulder, gesturing her to leave a Squid Beakon on the boat. She obliged, silently leaving one on the deck.

Together, they super jumped to the place they were expected to. There was nothing noteworthy about it other than a few small protruding rocks. The whole place was just a circle slightly elevated above sea level. Even more odd was the water color; in the Restricted Zone, it was green. But here, it was a mix between green and blue. They were at the edge of the Restricted Zone.

Before anyone could say something, the Grizzco ship sailed closer, but not close enough to be reachable by hand.

Tensions were very high. When another boat sailed closer and gave the first one a Bubbler shield, it broke. The three took their weapons in hand, ready for a fight.

The second boat was nearly identical to the other one, but instead of a satellite, there was a large antenna, implying it was remote-controlled.

"I didn't know their tech reached that level yet," growled One. There was no panic in her voice. "Since when could boats use an outlawed super?"

Without answering, the voice from the boat said, "I was wondering when you two would show up. I'll cut thing's short. You're not leaving. And you, kid." He was referring to Agent 4. "Stay away from them from now on. Be a good girl and stand near the edge. You don't have to watch. When we're done, we'll take you back."

"Don't patronize me," she barked. "I'm with them for a reason." The first boat started to turn its satellite toward them. "Scatter!" Four yelled.

The satellite — which clearly wasn't a satellite — shot a sound wave reminiscent of a Killer Wail.

 _So things can come out of that bubble, but not in,_ thought Two. _They recreated that Bubbler down to its last detail._

The ship continued its controlled rampage, sending out three Inkstrikes from a launcher behind it. The other boat, still providing the Bubbler, fired several homing missiles, also from behind.

The Inkstrikes flew back downwards, creating a torrent of outward-moving waves that blanketed the ground in a deep purple. Four simply rolled out of the way while the others backed up and opened their Brellas to defend from the deadly twister.

Then as the missiles quickly approached, Four had a crazy idea. She ran towards one, attracting multiple as she went, and dove under them, letting them sail overhead. The plethora of missiles turned downwards and back around so that they all faced the boat that shot them.

She kept running, towards the edge of the circle, and as she reached the edge, pivoted, hurdled over the approaching missiles, and let them all drill into the remote-controlled ship. The ship, now severely damaged, began to sink. The Bubbler faded with a loud whoosh.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed One. "What was that?"

"I have no idea!" She yelled, dropping a Splat Bomb at her feet. It popped the rest of the remaining missiles. "But it worked, right? Anyway, Two! Get over there!"

Referring to Marie as just "Two" was still new to her.

The first boat, the one that took them there, turned to leave. Two nodded at them and super jumped to the Squid Beakon. At the crest of her flight, she stopped for a moment and hung in the air as her body became covered in their signature green ink.

Her Splashdown slammed into the deck, creating a spinning mess of ink that coated the entire exterior in green. The sheer force blew off the umbrella, leaving it overturned and floating in the waters, and it short-circuited the speakers and the weapons, rendering them useless. They were water-proof, but not ink proof.

A few quiet seconds passed.

"Come on!" Two called. "It's safe!"

Four followed, landing on both feet with her knees bent. "Alrighty then. What now?"

Suddenly, a door flew open from the ship's bridge. The two shot their heads toward the sound. A tall Octoling wearing yet another pair of Hypno-Shades looked around in panic, caught a glance of them pointing their weapons at her, and wasted no time in super jumping away to somewhere far off.

Two and Four glanced at each other before looking to where she jumped. They couldn't see where.

"Wh...Where...?" Four started.

"A secret jump point. Of course they have those here," Twoguessed.

One landed on the deck behind her. "Well, that was a quick fight. Hope that's the last of this place." As she brushed her hands together, she noticed the door hanging open from the bridge. "The captain left? Err, do either of you know how to pilot a boat? We should leave before the tracking system on this thing gets us."

"Ooh, actually, I do!" Four said excitedly. "See, my dad's a captain, and he taught me how." She led the way, dashing to the door and making a sharp turn right to get in the bridge. She examined the controls, panning her vision across the entire panel. "This... is a lot simpler than other boats of this size. Alright, here we go."

The other two watched from behind as she fiddled with switches and hit buttons labeled with pictures rather than words. Neither of them could comprehend what was happening. "He always said this would help me in life, but i don't think he meant it like this."

Two turned back as they started to turn around and move. The bridge was very bland; it had the same brown from the Grizzco lobby covering all of the walls, but the material was different, and it was remarkably dry. She noticed something standing out. "Hey, what's that?" She wondered out loud. "Look."

A simple wooden table with jagged edges and unpolished surfaces stood bolted to the floor. There were two sheets of paper on it, but both looked as if they were crumpled and unfurled again. The edges were torn, and they had holes in them.

The boat tilted aggressively to the side. "Sorry!" Four shouted over the water. She flipped another switch, then the boat started to stabilize.

One and Two quickly crossed the distance to the table. Each picked up one.

"Mine's in code. Can't read it," said One. She folded it up and placed it in her coat pocket.

Two started to read hers out loud after some hesitation.

* * *

Name: Akash Octrope

Subj: Backup Power

Octavio's planning on stealing the Great Zapfish again. He didn't learn from last time.

I've been getting an underground team of researchers to look into the species of fish migrating close to Inkopolis, since their eggs look like a viable power source. We'd have no way to consistently collect to research, and possibly provide power.

I'll think on this and find a solution eventually.

* * *

"Hmm." She thought for a bit in silence. "Well, he found his solution," said Two as she shoved the paper into her own pocket. "Have either of you heard that name before?"

No responses; just two blank stares.

"We can jump right back to the city from here," interjected Four. They were still at a far distance from the shore, but the nearest jump point was a seldom-used boardwalk close to Wahoo World. "Hold on, I have an idea. You two jump off now."

She turned the boat around as they left, making it face away from the city and its shores. As the other two jumped off to the boardwalk, she put it at maximum speed, rolled out, and jumped as soon as there was no roof over her head.

She landed once again, this time on the barren boardwalk, next to Callie. Not One, as her disguise was off. "That's not gonna get us in any... legal trouble, right?" Callie asked anxiously.

The boat, still covered in green, was chugging along the blue waters, facing outward. Nothing was in its path, as far as they could see.

"And if they said something," explained Marie, also with her disguise off, "they'd also have to admit to attacking us. I think Rose could pass as a minor, so that'd be worse. We're fine, legally at least. Now, as for every other type of trouble, I'd say yeah, we're screwed."

"Perfect... Man, I wish Simon was here. He'd... do... something." Callie looked rather sad at the thought.

 _They have such great chemistry,_ Rose thought. She removed her coat and tied it around her waist. Turns out that she put on the jacket over her other clothes. "We'll find him. Seems like a great guy, and tough, too." She was was just trying to reassure her; she knew absolutely nothing about him. "Let's get these papers back."


	6. Downtime

**#6**

 **So hey, look, another short one. Yay. Next one's longer, I promise.**

 **But I did use the extra time to** **make cover art for Alias. It's... not that great, but it's something.**

* * *

"Alright, so the next course of action," Four declared with confidence, "is to find where the celebrity was captured." She was carefully treating Agent 1 and Callie as separate people even though nobody could possibly hear her.

They were at Tentakeel Outpost figuring out what to do next. They'd already shown both crumpled documents to Cap'n Cuttlefish, who drearily looked at them and wordlessly set them on the cushion of the old couch he was sitting on. "Don't worry," Two whispered to Four, "We'll... I'll talk to him later."

"So... we go find it now?" She hoped to do something more, as her excitement and adrenaline from Grizzco hadn't died down yet.

Two glanced around warily, displaying the same instints as Four. "Yeah, but whatever we find, we hold off on invading until later tonight when it's less active."

"Aww," Four complained. Her adrenaline from Grizzco was still pumping. "...Anyway, what do we do with DJ Oc?"

"Nothing yet," said Two. Octavio was in the corner of Tentakeel, inside a glass globe that muffled sound. He couldn't see the rest of the outpost due to the room divider blocking his corner from it.

"I'm back!" Squealed One as she shot out of the manhole. After going shopping for separate disguises, her unmistakably bubbly personality shone through her mouth covering and cap. "I got us all matching sunglasses!"

"Great, but let's swap into these public disguises... not here. You asked for the sub weapons, too, right?" Two was being remarkably vocal. She seemed to be temporarily taking over the position of captain.

"Yup!" In addition the the new shades, she also asked Sheldon to add some new sub weapons to the Hero Roller and Charger. It took forever, what with all the monologuing he did. "That's why it took so long... He'll send them here later."

* * *

Rose fiddled with her sunglasses once they were at a table in the square. No matter how she put them on her face, they weren't very comfortable. "Do I really need these? I'm not that famous..."

"But they're cool, right?" Said Callie. "See, I'm fine with them." She pulled them down, revealing her pupils and striking a pose which really let her back-facing cap shine.

Rose couldn't argue with that. They _were_ pretty cool.

Marie brushed her unexpectedly long hair away from her face. Letting it down was a core piece of the disguise. Other than that, she only had her sunglasses. "I'll need to get used to this," she sighed. "Let's find the place." With that, she led the way, super jumping to the location of their old apartment building.

Rose and Callie followed, soaring through the air, and once they landed, they saw Marie standing nearby and desperately trying to untangle her hair. "This is why I always pin it up!"

"I'll... uh, go this way," Callie decided to get away from the situation

Rose started to soak in the scenery as she and Marie went after her. The buildings here were shorter since they were farther from the heart of the city. They were mostly apartment buildings with the occasional restaurant or barbershop. It was like a residential district.

The one thing missing, though, was the people. As far as she could see, nobody was on the street other than them. The metal garbage cans in the alleys were empty and there were no lights shining through the windows. None were broken, however; each was still intact, if a bit dirty. "Was this place... always this deserted?" She asked, taking in the street like it was an exhibit in a museum.

Marie finally got her hair behind her head again. Being able to see more clearly, she shot her gaze around, seeing many of the same things Rose did. "No... But this place was rumored to be gang territory a little more than a year ago, so people stay away." She noticed Callie walking with her head down and with her thumbs in her pockets. "You okay there?"

Callie suddenly shot her head up and took her hands out. It must've been an old habit that never got broken. "...I guess. I just... don't know what I did, or how I'll recognize where-" She abruptly came to a stop, almost letting Rose walk into her. "H-here." Her voice was shaky.

To nobody's surprise, there was an alley to their direct right. Its walls were brick, its ground concrete. It came to a dead end by the only thing in there: an empty, green dumpster with a black lid hanging behind it.

One of the few details Rose knew about the kidnapping was that Callie was on her way to some meeting somewhere. Why would she come through this deserted street? Was it just the quickest way there?

"Hey, Rose, help me with this," yelled Marie from the side of the dumpster. She had one hand under it, getting ready to lift it.

"Oh, uh, coming!" She cleared her mind, ran to her, and helped her lift it and tip it over on its side with a loud crash. Callie was staring into the distance.

An unmoving kettle was there with clear, polished metal. The only thing that adorned it was a piece of masking tape on its side labeled "LAB".

Rose looked at Marie next to her and whispered, "she'll be fine, right?"

"I'm the master at giving pep talks," she bragged, "but I've never done it to her and Gramps at the same time. Don't worry about it. This is... more personal... Let's meet at Tentakeel at midnight, okay?"

* * *

 **Yeah, so I wrote almost this entire chapter in one sitting. And this is after padding the old version.**

 **Anyhow, if there's one takeaway from this, it's that practice actually does help. Might take a while, but it's worth it.**


	7. Enter the Lab

**#7**

 **Do you guys mind some shameless self-promotion?**

 **Play my Mario Maker 2 level, the ID is V5K-YXW-DNF. It's called Big Flying Turtle on a Rail.**

 **Now, the primary reason I uploaded this.**

* * *

For what felt like the thousandth time, he awoke in a holding cell specifically designed for Inklings. It was pure metal, but it looked like he was given special treatment, having no guards and instead an extra layer of wall separating him from the outside.

His name was Simon, but he hadn't been asked that. They know he would've given them a fake one. Not like it mattered to his captors what his real name was. To them, he was Agent 3, and that was enough.

All he could do was wait. His weapon was gone, he was stuck with no way out, and they used to come every day to mock him. He learned to block them out and just stare at the ceiling, but they still came.

But recently, they stopped. A few days ago, they left him alone, leaving him to sit apathetically in solitude. It was more boring than anything. He enjoyed company, if all they did was call him useless.

An hour passed. Two. Then came the sound of footsteps echoing outside. A sound he hadn't heard for quite a while.

It was at least two people, both presumably Octolings. They were speaking. One voice was feminine, one masculine.

After that whole issue with the subway a while ago, he picked up a bit of their language, but that was a different situation. He caught only a few of their words.

"Dad... the... and..."

"...Fell... Sis..."

That didn't help. He strained to try and understand more, but it was all gibberish in his ears.

Then his cell door opened for the first time since he was put in there.

* * *

"Why is this thing so finicky?" Four twisted the left ear of her new headset, trying to figure out what it did.

"It's not that bad," said Two. She twisted her own left ear. "See, this is when I want to talk with you." She twisted it again. "With her." And once more. "With both of you," she finished. "But just keep it with both of us, I don't know the point of the other settings.

"Alright..." Four tried to twist it again, but it blasted a loud static sound. "Agh!" She threw it down on reflex. Then warily picked it back up and adjusted it in her hands.

It was, of course, midnight. The three were taking the same walk back to the Lab, but with their signature weapons. One with a Roller, Two with a Charger, and Four with Dualies. They all had their three sub-weapons Sheldon added earlier. Their disguises were back on, save Four. She was lucky to not need any disguise due to not being famous.

One was leading the march again, but this time, she was a lot more energetic. They could see it in her eyes and the way she walked. "Here we are!" She yelled as they passed the alley. "Let's-"

"Quiet!" Hissed Two. "Don't you know why we're here at night?"

"...Fine," she grumbled. "...Let's head in."

She kept leading the way, though. After turning the corner, she dived in through the metal grating of the kettle, followed by her partners.

The distance between the entrance and the floor was little.

"What..." Four whispered upon landing inside.

She didn't have to explain her confusion; unlike every other Octarian base any of them had seen, this one wasn't full of large floating pieces of land.

It was like they were inside a building this time, since it had actual walls and a ceiling. It was dark with no lights on, so everything looked black or a dark shade of grey.

A few seconds of stunned silence passed, then they nodded at each other and pressed onwards.

About halfway through the hallway, a door resided on its left side. One opened it carefully, but there was nothing inside other than a broken computer on a short, lonely desk.

The entire room was a cubicle, barely wider than the doorway. "What's the point of this?" wondered One.

"For us," whispered Two, "it's this." She pushed past her and snatched another piece of paper off of the desk. It was almost invisible in the dark. "Also in code. Ugh." After stuffing that into her coat pocket as well, she stepped back out, prompting them to move on.

At the end of the hallway, at the bottom of a gentle slope, there was a split in the dark walls. Another hall laid perpendicular to the first one, leaving three paths to be explored.

"Split?" offered One.

"Split," agreed Two.

Four spoke up. "Isn't that the horror movie tactic that always ends badly? I don't us to lose here."

"Says the girl that took six Octolings at once and won," quipped Two. "Yeah, don't think I don't remember that."

"Well, sure, but," she leaned in closer, reaching for something witty. "What if there are seven?"

"Just take a path, Four," she groaned.

"Fine..." Hesitantly, she conceded, shuffling to the right one. One went left, leaving Two to go down the middle.

There was almost nothing down the middle path. She went forward for a while and eventually strapped her Charger to her belt to keep walking with her hands in her pockets.

Another few minutes of sluggish, soundless walking passed before the black, empty hall finally provided something. There was a staircase that went upwards and to the left.

Before ascending to wherever it went, she crouched down at the base and listened for someone at the other end. Then someone yawned. Loudly.

 _Big mistake,_ thought Two.

She took her Charger back in her hands and charged a shot, aiming it at the ground. It had a silencer, so noise wouldn't be a problem. She took a breath and sprinted up the staircase as quietly as she could. As soon as the aiming laser hit the target, she released the trigger, sending a long stream of ink to it.

It was an Octoling. What else would it be?

Now a pool of green ink sat on the floor and covered a bit of the walls around it. In the darkness, it looked several shades darker than it was. It dripped down the stairs, leaving a small puddle on the next one down. The path seemed to come to a dead end here, but as Two strained her eyes more, she saw a swinging door that covered the entire end of the path.

As she pushed it slowly inwards, she peeked in, seeing someone reclining on a basic four-legged wooden chair in a room the size of the small one from earlier. They were facing toward the far wall and staring at a bright screen, periodically hitting keys on a keyboard to switch views. It was the security camera guy. How underfunded was this place to have only a single monitor and two people on security without a a lock?

She charged another shot and pushed the tip of the weapon in, aimed at them, and released the trigger once again. The room was now entirely dark green, that's how tiny it was.

Taking another breath, she crept her way inside and plopped down on the newly-inked chair. She wiped the monitor and keyboard with her jacket, letting her see a portion of them.

After trying one of the keys, the view shifted to... somewhere in the facility. The lighting was better there, but that might've been just the camera.

Four was in there, in a heated encounter with two Octolings somewhere in the same hall, but there was a sharp turn in it. She grinned devilishly as she was backed into the corner, aiming one Dualie backwards to ink the wall.

Without turning around, she swam up and kicked off of it, hurtling forward. She hopped of the head of one of the two, dropping a bomb which splatted both of them at once. Still with that devilish grin, she cinematically walked away.

Thinking this was a good time to say so, Two said into her headset, "I got the security guy. Don't panic if you see a camera."

In reaction, Four whirled around on the screen, looking for said camera. As she made eye contact with it, she started waving and replaced her mischievous smile with a cheerful one. After the gesture, she turned back around, holstered her Dualies, and sprinted ahead.

Two rolled her eyes. She hit another key, and it showed nothing other than more hall. Another, still nothing. On the third, she found One.

She was out of the hallway and in an actual room with a desk and cheap brown carpeting. An empty bookshelf resided in its corner and an empty trophy case in the other.

One snatched a paper off of the desk and folded it, but it was impossible to make out on the screen. "I got something, but I can't tell what it is. It's too dark."

"Me too," said Agent 4. "What now?"

Another key showed nothing. And another one. Another one. The next was somewhere unusual. The screen displayed another room which had an array of more Octoling soldiers. There were about thirty of them. One stood at the front, facing them on a podium, but oddly, she didn't have any Hypno-Shades on. She said something, but the cameras didn't record audio.

The one at the front brought her hand up, then snapped it back down. That was a symbol for something, but it didn't take long for Two to figure out what it was. The array of soldiers rearranged into two lines, then charged through an opening in the side of the room.

"Get out, now," Two said. "We've been found."

"I know that!" shrieked Four. "A bunch of them are after me!"

Two backed out of the room, but not after smashing the monitor with a kick to the screen. She leapt down the staircase and began the long run back to the fork in the hall.

While running, she kept checking behind her, but of course, there was nobody there.

She shot out of the middle path to find that One was already there. "Is she alright?" She said quickly. A hint of worry crept into her eyes.

"Go! Run!" Four's voice echoed through the hall. "Go on!"

One dropped a Splash Wall by the entrance to the hall as Four barreled out of it. The small unit behind her tore through it in seconds, but that was all they needed.

Running shoulder to shoulder, they passed the small room, reached the entrance to the Lab again, and simultaneously super jumped out of it, leaping back into the choppy moonlight that shone through.


	8. Inquiry

**#8**

 **From here on out, I'll refer to the NSS by their numbers. "Agent 4" will now be "Four" and so on. I'll go back and change it in the previous chapters when necessary.**

 **It just works better from my standpoint. The word "Agent" gets obnoxiously repetitive here. I'll use the word sometimes, but only when it works.**

* * *

Since it was still in the dead of night, most of Tentakeel Outpost was darkened. The lights hanging from the cabin, though, engulfed the ground in a rectangular shape.

The weapon upgrader and the test balloons were also dimly lit, for some reason.

"Captain?" Four whispered. He was sound asleep, dozing on the couch. "Captain?"

He awoke with a start. He made a noise and sat up. "Wha?" He said, still half-asleep.

"We've been over this," said Two. "Remember what happened last time you dropped your guard around him?" She pointed backwards to the room divider that hid Octavio.

One casually removed the clear plastic sheet from her pocket and changed the subject. "Do we... have a use for this?" She unfolded it and held it up. "I can't tell what it is."

Four buried her hand into her own coat pocket. "Oh yeah, I have one of those, too!" She did the same thing, unfolding it and presenting it to Cap'n Cuttlefish.

He squinted at them, which looked unexpectedly horrifying with his huge eyeballs, and took them in his hands, putting one on top of the other. "Oh. I figured it out!" Apparently, that was a complete accident.

Since the sheets were transparent, it was possible to stack them and line up their symbols. They formed a cipher that matched the coded documents they found

Two took the coded document in her hand and compared them. "Yeah, they're the same. Let me have them, I'll get to work on decoding this. And the other one, too."

"Alright." Four shrugged. She went over to the cushions near the wooden cabin and sat down on them, letting her legs swing. One followed, but she chose to stand.

Four chanced asking a sensitive question. "So, you feeling alright?" The delivery was casual.

"Huh? Me?" One pointed at herself. "I-I guess? I don't know why, though... I guess I've been trying to forget about all of it. Sorry for trying to... kill you." Her words we're slightly muffled through the mouth covering.

"Eh, I don't blame you, it was all DJ Oc," she put on a sassy grin and leaned a bit to the side. "If it makes you feel better, it was really easy."

"Oh, okay..." she smiled under the disguise. "That's good to hear. By the way, how'd you get involved?"

"With this?" Four pointed at the ground, meaning the Outpost. "I literally just followed her down that manhole. In hindsight, that could've gone so wrong in so many different ways, following a random stranger and all, but I'm glad it didn't!"

"Done!" Two called. Both coded documents were on the ground with the cipher. Under each line, she wrote the decoded version in.

"That's all in Octarian," observed Cap'n Cuttlefish from over the armrest. "I can-"

"I can translate it," chimed Two.

As they went back, One gave her a weird look. "When did you...?"

"Oh. Wait." Two looked away, obviously blushing. "I...I might've learned it to help find you."

She gasped. Loudly. "You...!" She stopped herself. "I'll gush later, okay!?"

Four found this very entertaining.

"Uh, I'll start..." Two reluctantly began to read one document in a rough translation.

* * *

Name: Phil Krackke

Subj: NHS

The most active member of the NSS has has been captured. If the plan is to come to fruition, we'll use the New Hypnotic Sunglasses (Name in development) and use him however necessary.

The New Hypnotic Sunglasses are still in development. Testing is proceeding smoothly, but Octavio was not informed of the specifics, such as the collection of random Inklings for research.

Commander Octrope's plan is underway, which will benefit all of us in the long run.

* * *

 _Is... Is that seriously what they're calling them? New Hypnotic Sunglasses?_ thought Four, but she wouldn't dare say that out loud.

"...What?" Said One. "So let me get this straight. This Phil guy works for that Akash guy and Octavio?"

"Well, yes," Two replied, "but that isn't the major part. Did you hear the part about 'collection of random Inklings for research'?"

Four thought of something. "Y'know, DJ Oc's right there. Can't we just ask him?"

The weight of the situation pressed down in the silent few seconds that passed.

"I-I'd rather not," One admitted, looking away in shame. "But... okay."

"You sure? Alright then." Two lifted the really light room divider and carried it away. Octavio instantly whirled around started glaring at those standing around him, particularly at Agent 4. One shuffled away and started creepily peeking from behind the cabin.

He was still the giant purple octopus he was, holding his two lime green sticks of wasabi. Two of his tentacles were crossed, baring an x-shaped scar on the one in front. On his round head, he wore a hat that must've been a crown, or whatever the equivalent of his obscure position was.

The eyewear that coved half his vision was sitting on the bottom of the snow globe. Apparently he didn't bother picking it back up.

After putting down the divider, Two stepped on a tiny button on the base of the snow globe that disabled the sound barrier in it. "What." Octavio bellowed, loudly and forcefully.

"Can you read this?" Two held up the paper, still in Octarian and with several creases running through it. His big, green eyes stared running across it immediately. It was the closest thing he had to entertainment since... just yesterday.

"That traitor," he said in the same way whilst still reading it. "Octrope? Yeah. Heard of him. Recently went after my leader position. Failed more than once. Guess he's done it now." He looked regretful. Octavio obviously didn't want to share any information with them.

"...That's it?" Said Four, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. She leaned forward and looked him right in the eyes. "Nothing else?"

"No," he bellowed again, grimacing at her.

"Okay, what else?" Two pulled her back from behind, then tried to think of something else to ask him. "Grizzco. Heard of that?"

He gave her a side eye, somehow grimacing harder. "Yeah. The danger job you idiots take."

They chose to ignore the horrible sentiment. "It's run by that guy," explained Agent 4. "Octrope, was it?"

Octavio sighed, a really low sound. "He's really making them- Ugh. Look, I don't hate Inklings as a whole, okay? He does, though. But don't get me wrong. You two suck." He gazed at them, hatred filling his eyes.

"Aww, thanks!" Four mocked cutely. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard from you." It was true, since it was the first time he directly addressed them. She took the same posture, crossing her arms and leaning forward.

"That's enough, Four," said Two. She hit the muffle button on the globe's base again before he could scream their ears out, then dragged the room divider back before he thought of throwing up rude gestures.

"He's so horrible," commented Four.

"You're the one that insulted him to his face," said Two flatly.

"B-But, he tried to crush me under those giant hand things!" Four pleaded for justification.

"That doesn't mean you should- Never mind. I'll get on the other one." Two retrieved the other untranslated document from the ground.

One slowly crept back from the cabin.

* * *

Name: Akash Octrope

Subj: Agent 3

* * *

 _Oh boy, here we go,_ Two thought.

* * *

Instead of Agent 3, Octavio has chosen to use the New Hypno-Shades on the celebrity. He says it'll "decrease morale" and "heighten our chances of success."

It won't work, but it's made my plan easier. He'll go be the Grizzco representative for us so we can start collecting the eggs. Naturally, he refused, even after threats. The kid's smart, he knows he's too valuable to be hurt.

After informing him of our possession of the celebrity, however, he was eager to go.

* * *

After hearing that last sentence, Four could tell what exactly would happen, so she hastily tried to change the subject. "Wow!" She said, clapping her hands together. "It sure is convenient that these papers give us _useful information_!"

Unfortunately, she was bad at faking enthusiasm. Or any emotion, for that matter.

Two closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, then pushed One into the cabin, locking the door behind them.

The captain stood, hastily hobbling over to the door, then decided against barging in.

* * *

The small interior of Cuttlefish Cabin was dimly lit with a few candles. A desk sat in the corner, with shelves above it holding boxes filled with papers.

"Look, I know what you're thinking," said Marie, flicking her sunglasses off of her face and letting them clatter on the polished desk.. "'He picked me over the whole dang city,' right?"

Callie pulled her mouth covering down and nodded worriedly.

Marie took another breath, preparing to follow that up with something, then slowly let it out. "...I didn't think this far. What do you want to hear, Callie!?"

"Uhh...!" She put her hands up in defense of the aggressive, yet failed, empathy. "Maybe..." she pulled away, letting a flame ignite in her eyes. "Let's... get him back."

* * *

 **The biggest change I made in this chapter was make Octavio a lot more bitter. In the old one, he was more of a lifeless husk that spat out information for them.**


	9. Flight to Fight

**#9**

 **I just went back to read the old version of this chapter.**

 **And oh lord, it's the most pointless one in the entire story. Almost nothing mattered. At all.**

 **Buuuut there were just enough important things in it to prevent me from just outright deleting it.**

 **Alright, here we go, let's see what I can do with this.**

* * *

Four blankly stared at the cabin.

Now that the excitement was over, she started to feel the lack of sleep. She tiredly wandered to the ragged, patched-up couch by the manhole and fell into it, making sure to avoid the side the captain sat in.

"We still haven't found Agent 3..." he said as he waddled back to her. He squinted at the ground in some shallow thought.

"Yeah, there was nothing else we found down there," Four dropped her head on the armrest, letting her eyes droop. "Except I found another one of those big kettles with the lids." She was describing it half-asleep in a childish voice. "It was behind a big metal door with, like, super big electromagnetic locks."

Cap'n Cuttlefish, still standing, looked down at her in disbelief. "That's... that's important..." he said.

Four continued. "And one of the guards, there were two of them without the shades, he said something about how they don't get much power. Something about it being stuck in actor volley, or something, I don't know."

"Bucko?" He tapped his cane on the ground. "Was it Octo Valley, they said?"

"Probably? I don't know." She was too sleepy to replay the scene in her mind. Four fell asleep right there, letting herself go limp in the welcoming softness of the vintage couch.

"She saw what, exactly?" Two burst out of the cabin, wearing her sunglasses again. "I heard something about a metal door, and locks." She jogged over to see Four with her head and arms limply hanging off of the couch.

If it wasn't for her heavy breathing, it would look like a crime scene. _She looks adorable when she's asleep,_ thought Two.

The captain took over, slowly turning around to face her, "Eh, she said that we need to cut off power to that Lab."

If the doors were locked electromagnetically, they'd disable if the facility faced a blackout. Then they could explore deeper into the Lab.

Two understood that, but there was still one part that puzzled her. "But I heard Octo Valley, too. Why's the source there, of all places?"

"Because..." said One as she crept out of the cabin with her mask on. "Because if they put it under the city, it would have strong effects on wireless devices. Samomid eggs... do that..." she slouched, putting her hands in her pockets again.

"Wh-" started Two. "Oh..." _She just remembered something else._ "Got it..."

"Let's... just... find a way there..." muttered One, faintly smiling and shuffling to the couch. "What do we do with her?"

Two looked at Four, then at Octavio's corner. "Guess we're camping here tonight," she sighed. "I'm not dragging her back. Or leaving her with _him_."

—

Four woke up to an unpleasant mouthful of dirt. Sometime during the night, she rolled off the couch and planted her face in the soft soil.

Disgusted, she spit, leaving a damp wad of it on the ground.

Groaning, she stood, stretched, and looked around, rediscovering where she was.

The sun was up, still rising, but it shone brightly, so the lanterns around on the cabin in the corner were put out. She didn't know if it was automatic or not.

The tree above her gave some shade, though.

Standing right next to her was Two, but she hadn't noticed that. "Next time, try not to fall asleep next to Octavio, okay?"

"Ah!" Four jumped back, still in that transition phase to full awareness. She almost landed on her Dualies sitting on the ground. "W-what?"

"He's right there. Octavio. Don't let him kidnap you like he did with Three." Her expression, especially her eyes, was unreadable. "And Callie," she murmured.

"Oh... uh... sorry..." Four picked up her Dualies while cautiously staring at his corner with the pink room divider. The silhouette of the globe was faintly visible, but she's couldn't make out Octavio's shape. _Does she sleep?_ she thought, holstering the Dualies.

"Morning!" yelled One from the cabin, harshly kicking the door open. "What's the plan now?"

"We get to Octo Valley," said Two. "We can... Wait, Four, you know where that is?"

She shook her head and blinked. "All I know is that it's where Agent 3 got the Great Zapfish the first time." Once again, she fell backwards onto the couch with nothing else better to do.

"That's most of it," explained Two, "but some time after he did that, Octavio sealed the entrance from Inkopolis Plaza. Then carved out a piece of said Plaza and used it as an arena. You fought him on it."

"Hold up," said Four, holding her hand up. "A piece of the... Wouldn't people notice that?"

One jumped in, crossing her arms in amusement. "Pff, yeah, everyone saw it. The higher-ups in the city said it was roadwork and moved everything to the the square," she laughed.

"...Yeah," said Two as she adjusted her sunglasses. "Anyway, we have to fly there."

* * *

 **Basically what I did here was take the parts that mattered and stretched them to hell and back, added details that weren't there before, and deleted the useless parts. And patched up a plot hole. I won't go into the details on that one.**

 **And still. It's short.**

 **Holy crap, I was such a bad writer a year ago.**


	10. Liftoff

**#10**

 **Before starting this chapter, I would like to formally apologize to those of Team Order for my first day of the last Splatfest.**

 **I sucked bad. We were so close to not getting 3-0'ed. My other two days weren't so bad, so...**

 **And with that out of the way, chapter time.**

* * *

Four was still getting over the fact that they stole a piece of the ground. What was the point of that? Symbolism? Morale?

Several reasons, all probably wrong, crossed her mind as she stared, dumbfounded, at the ridiculous image of a flying truck slowly hovering to Tentakeel.

She had prepared each of the nine Hero Weapons that Sheldon had created, leaving them all laying by her as she was sitting cross-legged in anticipation. All of them had the same color scheme of lime green with occasional blue lights flashing on black.

Straining her eyes, Four could faintly make out the design on the truck's side; splashes of paint, not ink, were on it, with every inch of the old design covered in a splash of some other color.

Paint was less temporary than ink, which decayed quickly. The questionable design must've been to cover the Squid Sisters logo on it.

Sheldon was happily driving again. What did he do the truck to make it fly, and more importantly, why? There's no way he did it in the time between Four fighting Octavio and Marie showing up, so he must've done it in stupid anticipation.

One waved wildly from the top of the truck as it sluggishly flew closer. She was obviously smilingly widely, even with the mouth covering hiding it.

"What... is that?" Cap'n Cuttlefish appeared from behind Four, peering at the vehicle as if it was going to attack them. Where did he come from? "Is it an Octarian weapon?"

"We... uh... decided to fly to Octo Valley. That's the best thing we have," she knew too well that that was unconvincing. Sheldon needed to explain something later.

Four stood up and test-fired the Hero Splatling off the edge, away from the truck. It was, without a doubt, her least favorite of the weapon classes to use, right next to Chargers and Brellas. She was better with Dualies. Way better.

"Hey, Four!" One yelled in the distance. "Like the new paint job?"

"No!" ...At least she was honest. It looked wrong, even to Four, who usually never cared about looks. Did they shoot paint at it?

As it inched closer and closer, Four could make out that the metal railing was still on there. It covered only one side of it, but it would make for a valuable handhold if it came to an airborne battle.

The truck slowed down as it hovered above the Outpost. It lowered, letting the wheel-thruster things land facedown on the ground, whirring to a stop as it thumped on the dirt.

Octavio must've seen the truck at its height. Hopefully, he didn't make the connection that the two Inklings on it were the same two he saw a couple of days ago.

"Can you guys really not afford something better?" Four asked, raising an eyebrow at the mechanical abomination before her.

Two hopped down, avoiding the Hero weapons strewn across the ground. "And you think nobody's going to ask why we need another helicopter? It won't hold the weapons anyway."

"Another?"

"Just load the weapons, Four, that doesn't matter right now. I promise, I'll tell you later," she went to the back, opening the truck's doors.

With Two in the back, One spoke up, leaning back on the railing. "...So what's wrong with the paint job?"

—

"And we have liftoff!" One and Four yelled that in unison, pumping their fists in the air as they felt the truck rise from within. The engine rumbled as the air started to flow by.

The truck's interior was grayish with flickering lights. It was a little dirty; it usually wasn't used for much other than stage equipment, sometimes for the outdoor concerts. Nothing was in there other than them and all of the nine Hero Weapons.

They'd only be able to use three at a time, of course, but they might need specific weapons for different scenarios. Octo Valley might have changed a lot in the past two years.

Four leaned back and lay down on the floor, not caring about the dust and grime getting caught in her hair. "Imagine seeing this from Octo Valley. Some random truck floating menacingly in the distance, heavy metal blasting from the speakers."

Two looked at her strangely. "We... don't really do heavy metal, Four..." She slid down and sat by the wall, crossing her arms in boredom.

"You should," she laughed, "It'd make raids like this ten times better. Dubstep vs. Metal. That sounds like a Splatfest."

"Dream all you want," said One. "I'm not screaming into a microphone again after what happened to our first studio."

"Ooh, I smell a story behind that," Four sat up, peering at One intently. "Spill it. What happened?"

"There's not much story at all," sighed Two. "She just screamed into a cheap mic 'cause she felt like it. Cost me a lot back then..." she glared at One through the sunglasses.

One held up her hands in defense. "I paid you back! Sure, it was three years later, but I did!"

"There's something in the distance!" Sheldon said abruptly. "I can't make it out from here, you want to check it out?" He also apparently installed a speaker system because he really should not have been heard from the driver's seat.

"...How?" asked Four. "Oh wait, I see." There was also a trapdoor in the dead center of the truck's roof, leading to the outside. "Why though?"

"Doesn't matter... But yeah, why, though?" muttered Two. She stood up, went under the trapdoor, and jumped, latching her fingers on it and letting it swing open.

Then she used that to pull herself up.

In the strong wind of the outside, her sunglasses protected her eyes. "Pass me my Charger!" she shouted over the blusters.

The view from the high point was breathtaking. Inkopolis was on one side, the ocean past it, and on the other, green mountains towered and a blue river flowed, creating a picturesque landscape not many people would be able to see from there.

Octo Valley was in the distance by a carved sculpture of an octopus, but still pretty far. Tentakeel Outpost was nothing but a dot in the air behind.

Four hoisted herself up next, but not after hurling the Hero Charger out of the truck. She leaned on the railing, peering in the distance at a shining speck in the air in front. That was what Sheldon had mentioned, but it was too far to identify. "Yeah, can't tell what it is," said Four.

A sound cut through the loud blowing of the wind. It was similar to a seagull's call, but it sounded more dominant and forceful.

"What the..." gasped Four. Whatever the glimmering speck was, it was approaching terrifyingly quickly. "We're in for a sky fight. Get me the Blaster!"

One was the last one up. She threw up the Blaster first, like Four asked, then heaved the Splatling onto the top of the truck. It landed with a crash on the metal roof.

Four looked again. The reflective speck was almost entirely metallic. Its body was polished with its head being entirely made of a transparent material. A beak ornamented it, but its purpose was unclear. There were wings on its sides, but they only held thrusters keeping it aloft.

Glowing orange areas were on each of its joints.

In nearly every way, it resembled a gigantic bird the size of Tentakeel. "Hold on," said Four. "Sheldon's gonna swerve."

She predicted that perfectly. The next moment, the truck violently leaned to one side, throwing everyone off-balance. As the giant, mechanical bird sliced through the air, it let out another deafening cry.

It turned, leaning like an airplane, then stopped behind the truck still moving forward, posing upright with its wings spread outwards. It moved at the same pace as them, pushing forward menacingly without heavy metal blasting from its nonexistent speakers.

Two took aim at it, looking for somewhere to shoot. She came to a glowing, orange spot near its short leg, then let loose the shot. It cut through the weak piece of whatever that was like a drill through styrofoam, leaving a tiny hole in it. "There," she said, "blast it off, Four!"

The bird rose upwards, then pointed the damaged leg directly at the truck. It fired off a Sting Ray, which the three narrowly avoided.

Sheldon swerved again, rising to its level. One unleashed a torrent of ink at the other leg just as it started firing a volley of Splat Bombs. Four shot at the cluster of bombs, forcing them out of the air, then fired once more at the leg that dropped them.

The small explosion from the Blaster severed the orange connection and broke off the leg, making it spin in helpless circles as it tumbled straight into the river.

"How far are we?" Four yelled over the booming thrusters. She looked behind her at the moving landscape. "Almost," she muttered. Octo Valley was really close, just a little longer at maximum speed, and they'd make it.

She blindly fired again, making her body go rigid to not let the recoil knock her over. She missed. With the other hand, she gripped the metal railing, since it was the only handhold they had.

Once again, it let out a screeching cry. It tried the Sting Ray again, pointing its remaining claw-like foot at the truck.

Four was narrowly caught in the line of fire for a terrifying moment, but not long enough to splat her. "Owwww..." she groaned, clutching her arm. She dropped in a kneel, clenching her teeth, then forced her weak arm with the Blaster to rise. In a burst of unexpected strength, she jumped up, barely reaching the clear head of the flying beast with the shot, coating it in ink and blinding the pilot.

Landing on the truck again, she dropped the Blaster and excercised her arm in circles as the purple ink dripped out of the sleeve. "I hate Sting Rays..."

Suddenly, the truck started to slow down as it reached the Octopus sculpture by Octo Valley. It hovered over the old manhole with its wheels face-down, then thumped onto the ground.

Whatever that giant, metal bird was stopped moving. It was hovering in the air, just outside the valley, not bringing the leg down and seemingly tamed.

But then it started to take the gliding position again as it slowly rotated around its head. The metal creaked as it pulled off the maneuver. With its beak pointing forwards and it's body behind it, it started to pick up speed again even though the pilot couldn't see outside.

Wherever it was going, it passed directly overhead. It was still gaining speed, so as it flew over the truck's landing place, Two fired at its severed leg, then leaped onto the place she had inked, clinging on to it in her squid form.

The beast picked up speed and soared into the distance, taking Two with it and leaving One and Four to only stare speechless as it left them.

* * *

 **Again, I combined two chapters for this one. Deleted a useless action scene from the first and replaced it with the one from the second.**


	11. Crushed Eggs

**#11**

 **Yeah, so there's not much to say about this one other than its better.**

* * *

"E-Eagle!" One exclaimed as she thrust a finger at the departing mass of metal. "That thing... It's called the Eagle!" She lost her balance. Four caught her, wrapping her arms around One's chest before she could fall off of the truck.

 _Again. She remembered something again,_ Four thought.

More importantly, her mentor was, effectively, kidnapped. Two went on her own accord, but that didn't mean much when it was a giant, flying bird that she hopped on.

"H-how's she getting back?" Four said, a hint of fear creeping into her voice. She never went anywhere in Octo Canyon without her voice pushing her on, but now?

All she had was a talkative shop owner and her mentor's cousin, who just recovered from hypnosis. Which wasn't the best team ever.

One raised a hand to her headset and twisted the ear. "Ma-Two? You there?" No response.

Two's headset lay on the ground, broken, crushed under the front left wheel. It was snapped in half, discarded like a broken toy.

"Ooh... that's bad..." Four shuddered. She let go of One and jumped off of the truck. Picking up the remains of Two's headset, she saw that all of the multi-colored wires inside of it were completely severed, ripped from the pressure. "Yeah, this thing isn't getting fixed ever. Sheldon, what's the plan with this?" She held up the half she had, leaving the other half under the wheel.

"Hmm..." He snatched out of her hand like he was stealing it. "I cannot fix this. The best course of action is to get her a new headset, but... well... she's not here."

"Not here. Not here!" One panicked. She dropped down, uncomfortably close to Four. "She'll come back, right? She'll just take over the Eagle and fly it back here, right?"

 _Wishful thinking..._ Four thought. _But I hope so, too..._

"We... uh... we're also out of fuel..." Sheldon interrupted. He adjusted his goggles. "H-how about you two go and find that power source? I'll wait here... uh... to guard the truck! We don't know what might happen out here!"

Area 1 of Octo Valley was not the place it was two years ago. The wooden message board that used to stand on one side was torn down, with only two protruding planks of wood suggesting it was once there. Every sign of plant life was gone. The tufts of grass, plucked, and the trees, reduced to stumps.

Every kettle was sealed with cement, presumably with other entrances and exits elsewhere, far off somewhere they couldn't access.

"We're down one," Four admitted through clenched teeth. It was frustrating, but there was work to do. "We... let's go."

One leaned on Four's shoulder. Despite being older, they were the same height. "O-okay."

 _She'll come back,_ One hoped.

Was this what it was like for Marie when she went missing long ago? Suddenly gone? One moment, there, the other, not there.

Marie had time to let it sink in, though, with the gradual realization that she was missing. But this time, it was certain, right off the bat, that the other was in the mercy of whoever ran the Octarian society now.

But Callie came back, right? Just like Marie will, right?

No, she wasn't Callie right now. She was Agent 1. One. Worry about that later.

One was panicking and Sheldon wasn't going anywhere, so Four had to act as the temporary leader.

She strained to see through the thin layer of fog that draped the area. The power source, presumably filled with Salmonid eggs, wasn't anywhere in sight.

Next to what was left of the wooden board, there was single piece of... something. It was black and cylindrical, shaped like a regular flashlight, but there wasn't any bulb inside of it. Four bent over to look at it, leaving One to sullenly get her Roller from the back of the truck, and examined the curious object. Its entire base seemed to act as a button.

She cautiously picked it up and twisted it in her hand, squinting to see the fine details, of which there were none.

"Sheldon, what's this?" Four called. After bringing it back to him, she dropped it in his outstretched palm.

 _This guy has really small hands._

He pressed the button with the tip of his finger, and it emitted a sound like that of a laser. A long stream of white-purplish ink was released from it, but it wasn't a regular weapon.

"What the..." said Four upon witnessing the stream,

Said stream was the same diameter as the base of the cylinder, but it didn't shoot ink. Instead, the stream abruptly ended where it hit the floor of the truck.

"What... is this!?" Sheldon almost dropped the thing in his uncontained excitement. He held it at various heights, and the stream seemed to extend and retract to always end at the truck's floor. "Four, take this outside and hold it off the edge! A-and don't touch the purple ink!"

"Uh? Alright?" She didn't understand a thing about the apparatus, but Sheldon was the expert, so she followed, taking it in the tips of her fingers and letting it hang off the cliff next to the manhole.

The stream ended at about two Inkling heights in length, and completely faded away after that. Four shook it, and it moved like a whip, but the stream was weightless.

The goggles on Sheldon's eyes somehow glinted as he obsessively leaned out of the window. "I see! This appears to be a prototype of a new class of weapon that combines light and ink! It wouldn't do well at covering ground, but I imagine it would work best as a secondary weapon as an offensive method!"

"Y'know," said Four, "I could never understand how you got into a fighting... thing... that you couldn't even do yourself."

"Can I have that back?" said Sheldon, completely ignoring her notion. "I must research it!"

Four hit the button on the bottom with her thumb, making the stream disappear, then threw it back to him. "Alright, go ahead," she insisted. "That was a waste of time for me."

It hit her again that Two was gone. She winced, then forced herself to march forward. She clenched her teeth again to stop herself from lashing out at the nearest remotely Octarian-shaped shadow. "One, let's actually go this time!"

"Mm-hmm..." One was leaning on the back side of the vehicle, supposedly taking watch to warn them if anything approached. Her Roller sat like a lifeless doll on the ground. "Any... uh, wires?"

"Not that I see... Where to? Up there?" Four answered her own question when she caught a glimpse of light right where she was pointing, another area in Octo Valley that was more forward than up. "Yeah, up."

An Inkrail source was bolted to the ground, pointing at the place with the light, so Four shot it. The device clicked and fired off a rope of ink that connected to a series of other floating Inkrail corners.

Four gestured. She hopped on the Inkrail and swam over to the next area. Then she jumped out of it and landed on the ground.

Like Area 1, the second was swept clean of plant life other than stumps. It looked like a skatepark, though it appeared to not follow any safety standards. There was no sound there except for the blowing of the wind and the rattle of Four's Dualies as they clicked together.

One dropped next to Four, her Roller perched on her shoulder. "That's... it, right?"

In the dead center of the skatepark was a basket, made out of a net held open with hoops of plastic. The brim was metal, and there was a pole on one corner holding a flag emblazoned with the Grizzco logo.

Several wires extended from the top of the basket, spreading apart and leading to places they couldn't see due to the fog. It looked like a large flower, thriving even without any sunlight.

Inside the basket, there were several large orbs, each holding an unmoving, unborn Salmonid that looked suspiciously like a fish's skeleton.

Each egg gave off a faint glow, so with their combined luminosity, they created a beacon of light in the fog

Four approached the basket and tugged on the net, but it wouldn't break. "The net's too tough. Should we break the wires... Uh, somehow?"

They looked more like tubes of liquid than wires, giving off faint bursts of light every now and then. One jumped, hooking her Roller on three low-hanging wires all leading to the same place in the fog. She weighed them down, allowing Four to grab them and pull.

"These things a-aren't breaking," Four said. She tried to pull them, tried to get whatever it was hooked up to closer to them, and somehow, it worked.

With a little bit of a pull, something _creaked_ in the fog. It sounded like metal, groaning under the sudden strain.

"Move!" said One. She pulled Four, who let go of the wires, with her, leaping into the Inkrail just as something came breaking through the fog and crashing down to destroy the basket.

The eggs in it all popped, leaving a puddle of whatever liquid that was and a bunch of melting Salmonid offspring flopping in it. The booming sound echoed in the valley, resonating as it bounded between the mountains.

Four almost got hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel. It whizzed by her ear as she made it back to Area 1. "I... I didn't pull that hard..." Her ears were still ringing from the deafening crash.

"Because we were still building that, genius," rumbled a voice from directly above. It sounded exactly like Mr. Grizz, low and demeaning, but without the accent. His voice was amplified by some sort of speaker, and the only other indication that he was there was a single foglight, seemingly floating in the air.

As the light drew closer to where they were standing, they stepped backwards, out of the way and staring carefully at it. It came closer, revealing that's it was hanging from the UFO that floated around Octo Valley.

The UFO was made of many pieces of metal stitched together like a quilt and designed to be a perfect circle. There was somebody on it, but a purple cloak was draped across him, face hidden by the shadow of its hood. His eyes were narrow and barely reflective, revealing only blackness.

"You know my name, right?" He looked down at his feet, hiding his face even more. "Octrope. I suppose there's no point in hiding it."

Four tensed. She drew her Dualies, pointing them at his figure. This is the voice of Mr. Grizzco, the guy that supposedly founded Grizzco. And the one that took Octavio's position.

Her fingers twitched on the triggers, but she knew they wouldn't reach. He was too high.

Akash sighed, a raspy and strained sound. "Go," he said, to unknown shadows in the fog, "fire at will."


	12. Eagle's Cry

**#12**

 **I actually added a chapter this time. I split one and dragged it out, and I ended up with this.**

 **And no, it wasn't for word count, it was so it sounded good.**

* * *

The wind whipped the sides of the giant bird as it soared... somewhere.

Two would've been blown off if it wasn't for the sheer bulk of the bird's hull shielding her from it.

Without the foot and talons, the broken leg she grabbed on to was just a hollow pole of metal. Many severed glowing wires surrounded the edges of the pole's interior, the same yellowish-orange as the joint that Four broke off. They were each leaking some kind of yellow liquid, but touching it didn't zap her. Wherever it touched metal, it dissolved.

Two slithered through the leg to find somewhere safer. After a short flop through the tube, she fell into a larger area of the bird, the main body, probably.

There was enough room for her to stand in the metal-floored area, but wasn't designed for people to linger. Everywhere she could step was unpleasantly curved, just to fit the model of a bird. Still, Cuttlefish Cabin would fit in there easily, with some room to spare.

But it would crush the glowing wires that provided the only light inside. In addition to the leg, the wires led to the other one, of course. Both seemed to draw power from the three metal capsules on the other side of the body, all copper. Or was it bronze?

The main body had one proper exit that Two could see, which was a hatch on the bird's chest area. It must've been there for the engineers.

Two wandered aimlessly inside. What was she going to do? Jump out? No, that was a death wish, what with all the trees and jagged rocks she'd impale herself on.

She couldn't shoot the wires leading to the head either. The bird would just spiral out of control, crash into some mountain and kill both her and the pilot.

The less deaths in the end, the better. Especially her. She liked to think that she was important.

The bird started to slow, nearly toppling Two. She was blind to the outside, left only to hope that they wouldn't find her. Her headset fell off in Octo Valley, and it was impossible for her to hold her own against several Octarians with a weapon like the Hero Charger.

Two scrambled to the patch of metal between the leg openings knowing that the bird was about to twist around to land on its remaining leg. It did, and then lowered down to whatever ground there was, the metal straining under the sudden weight.

The bird didn't fall over, even with the imbalance. Something must've been holding it from the outside.

Peering down the broken leg, she saw a smooth stone floor. And that was it.

 _That doesn't help me!_ Two thought. _C'mon, give me something I can use!_

"They really did a number on it, huh?" exclaimed a booming voice from outside. It was in the Octarian language, but Two understood every word. "Open the hatch, see if there's any internal damage, we need to fix this before General Octrope sees."

 _General? So now he's a general?_

Something told Two that he was giving that title to himself.

She was in enemy territory, deep into it. If she didn't find a way to hide soon...!

In a desperate attempt to do something, she flipped the ink tank on her back and dumped it all down the leg.

It all pooled down on the floor, hiding the stone in a sheet of green ink.

Somebody loudly groaned outside, the same Octoling from before. "They flooded the inside!"

Two jumped down, diving into the ink pool she just made. It was still expanding.

She braced herself for someone to mention that someone just fell into that pool of ink, but nobody did. Did that stupid trick work?

The bird, apparently, landed in a hangar specifically designed for it. Claws mounted on the walls, also metal, grabbed its wings and head, preventing it from falling over. There was no ceiling; the hangar showed an open, blue sky.

The Octoling she had heard earlier was standing on one of the narrow pathways near the top of the hangar. He was guarded by other Octoling soldiers, but he wasn't with wearing any Hypno-Shades, unlike everyone else she'd seen other than that one girl in the Lab.

The metal hatch on the bird's chest fell open, then someone stepped inside. The ceiling slid until it was closed, hiding the sky again.

Indoor lights turned on, surrounding the bird in a bright glint.

"The Eagle was supposed to be the peak of our technology!" exclaimed the man on the pathway. "Do we know what the problem was?"

 _Eagle..._ Two thought, _So it's called the Eagle..._

It was nothing like one of the the Great Octoweapons or Octobosses. Those all had at least a small amount of biological components.

This, on the other hand... they redesigned an airplane and weaponized it. Like that Grizzco boat, but leagues more dangerous.

Two wondered if they found that boat yet. Four sent it out to the ocean, so...

The puddle she hid in wasn't getting any bigger. Doing anything other than waiting would reveal her, so that's exactly what she did.

The guy above her was still screaming about the Eagle's damage. His voice echoed incredibly well in the hangar, even with the open roof.. "They shot the- They reached it? I said to fly farther so it would be out of range! And they shot the leg off... Well, we did figure that out in testing, but that's the only material that wouldn't dissolve in the Golden Egg's liquid! Unless we were to use our own flesh, but that isn't happening."

Two did recall that the liquid leaking from the wires — or were they pipes? — seemed to melt the metal. She was fine, but that was natural immunity.

"We could reinforce the joints with more steel plates, but then they wouldn't bend as easily, which is vital for a machine such as the Eagle..." He leaned on the railing separating him and the Eagle, staring at the transparent head. Did the pilot leave already? "Turning around isn't as important for the neck... Reinforce that joint and that joint only. And I'll get a team on finding a better pipe."

Grumbling to himself, he hastily left the path. His guards followed robotically behind him.

As their metallic footsteps slowly grew silent, the hangar's only noice was that of the presumed engineers inside of the Eagle. Two was left alone there.

She took the opportunity and jumped out of the dense pool of ink, running straight to the shadow under the pathway. Nobody noticed her. Good.

The shadow did little to conceal her, but at least nobody on it could see her since she was directly under it. She snuck to the wall, pressing her back against it, and prepared to fire her Charger if it came to that.

She sidled against it, slowly getting closer to the door at the end of the hangar. The engineers were all inside the Eagle, deaf to her movements from the drilling and whatever was going on in there.

As Two reached the door, she tested the knob. It was unlocked. Of course it was, why would it be locked from the outside?

She pressed her back against it, staring at the Eagle's back as she slowly twisted the doorknob. As soon as the door gave way and opened, she whirled around to look outside, aiming her Charger out of the crack in the doorframe.

No guards. She tuned left, then right, then behind her. Nobody had spotted her.

Two grinned devilishly as she strolled outside onto the field.

From the outside, the hangar appeared to be just a repurposed, abandoned warehouse. Paint was chipping off the walls, and there some patches of rust near the bottom.

Running through the grassy field was a dirt road that forked, leading to many more short, ancient-looking run-down buildings. Two guessed that they looked a lot better from the inside.

The whole Octarian outpost stood in a clearing, surrounded by trees that reached high above the hangar. Only one side had no plant life blocking it, and that side was the one the Eagle flew over, overlooking a stony cliff.

The forest surrounding them was the Seadragon Wood, a large area dense with trees just outside of Inkopolis.

Two couldn't run through the forest; she'd get lost. And she needed to get back to Octo Valley as soon as possible. One and Four needed her.

She almost kicked herself for jumping onto the Eagle.

 _The Eagle... Could I...?_

Four said that the Grizzco boat was easy to sail. If the Eagle was made by the same people...

But even the boat was too complex for her! And the Eagle was getting repairs right then!

Still, what other choice did she have? Run back to Octo Valley?

Two grimaced. She came to that decision quickly, but she knew it was stupid. Besides. It couldn't be that hard to fly, right? It would do all of the necessary things automatically, right?

When the engineers were done, they'd leave. That would take a while, so Two finally released the trigger, aiming at the hangar's wall. She swam up and perched on the slightly curved rooftop.

From there, she could see Octo Valley, and thought she caught a glimpse of a phone tower falling over.


	13. Complete Turnaround

**#13**

 **Here I go, splitting chapters again.**

* * *

 _The truck,_ Four thought. _The truck would give some cover!_

She ran back to the other side of Area 1, holding One by the wrist. She braced herself to get hit by a stray splash, but either everything missed her, or nobody was firing.

Akash just ordered... someone to shoot them, so they should at least hear a gunshot, right?

As Four dove next to the message board's remains and the fog cleared in front of her, she did not see the truck.

The only thing there was Sheldon, curled up in his helmet laying flat on the ground.

She growled. They were out in the open. The truck was gone, and Sheldon couldn't protect all of them in that tiny shell.

One dropped a Splash Wall at her feet, protecting both of them on one side, then a volley of ink flew at it out of the fog. It snapped the wall in half as One and Four ran in opposite directions.

"No, come back!" Four yelled. The last thing they needed to do was to split. Grimacing, she pivoted and ran back in the other direction, not knowing where she was going because of the fog.

The Inkrail faded into view again, so she jumped into it, narrowly avoiding a direct hit from a far-off Charger. She fell back into Area 2, now half-destroyed from the phone tower she pulled down.

At least, she thought it was a phone tower.

The fog was thinner there, so she could see that the liquid from the Golden Eggs was dripping off the far side. One was there, swinging her Roller sideways to launch a particularly tall Octocommander into the foggy pit below them.

Before Four could call out to her, the deafening call of the Eagle pierced the air again. Her stomach sank. She shot her glance around, but the only thing she could see was more fog.

Four dove closer to the collapsed phone tower. The cover it gave was little, but it was better than nothing. One joined her there, slipping between the web of metal and landing where the basket used to be.

The Eagle cried again, but neither of them could see it. They sat there with their minuscule cover, waiting for the Eagle, or a stray shot, or maybe someone to save them.

"One," Four said desperately, "I just met you, but-"

Yet another cry broke her sentence. Once it echoed away, the only sound left was the sound of the Eagle's thrusters.

The bird threateningly hovered above them, preparing to land near the collapsed tower. Why... why did the firing stop?

It slowly dropped, planting its legs on the ground. Once the thrusters deactivated, it stood still, facing forward, with the tips of its metal wings spread in a straight line.

They drew their weapons again, preparing for another hopeless skirmish. Both legs were on the Eagle, even though they broke one off earlier. Somehow, they fixed it in the time it took for them to destroy the basket.

The clear bulb it had instead of a head swung backwards, leaving it open. It was barely perceptible in the fog, but someone jumped out. Four crept toward it, One trailing behind her.

They jumped out, but what did that mean?

"Sorry!" the shadow suddenly called. "The communicator didn't work!"

One's Roller clattered on the ground. Four holstered her Dualies again and breathed a sigh of relief.

Two stepped into view only to be immediately tackled to the ground by One.

"Stop that, Cal- uh... We're too close to the edge!" Two struggled to get her off. "We're still in enemy territory!"

"No. I'm staying right here." One frowned, still holding Two tightly.

Four shifted uncomfortably at the very aggressive affection. She was indescribably relieved that Two was back, but this wasn't what she expected. Not wanting to intrude on this oddly-timed act of family bonding, she said, "Uh. I'll... uh. Go check on Sheldon."

It was baffling to see how quickly a situation could change.

Without waiting for a reply, she swam back. The Eagle's sudden entrance did nothing to the fog, so she picked what she thought was the right direction and went there.

Sheldon was there, still under his helmet. It was entirely covered in dark purple ink.

Four fired a Dualie to give herself a path, then approached the trembling, purple helmet. She knocked on it. "Hey. Come out. We're safe."

Upon hearing her voice, Sheldon popped out. The small amount of ground he covered was completely clean; no ink coated the circular spot he hid on.

"What happened?" Four said blankly.

He stepped back, making some ink drip off of his helmet. "What happened!? I was here the whole time, I couldn't see-"

"To the truck."

"O-oh. The truck," he stuttered. "Uh, well, they took it. Two Octolings took it while you were away. One was really muscular and the other really short. They literally kicked me out! See? I still have the bruise."

Four quickly ran her eyes across him. "No, you don't."

"Okay, fine, I jumped out before they could do anything! They refilled the tank and drove away. I managed to save this, though!" Sheldon pulled the flashlight weapon out of his front pocket and dangled it in front of himself. "I've decided to call it the Inkwhip!"

"But you lost the truck." Four leaned in closer to his face, squinting accusingly. She must've looked gigantic through those goggles.

"...Yeah."

"With all of the weapons inside."

"I can make more of them!"

"That's not the point," Two said from behind. One stood behind her, shadow-like in her behavior. "The point is that the enemies have the Hero weapons now. Don't bother making more. We all have our best weapons saved. Right, Four?" She turned to her, adjusting her sunglasses. Somehow, she was accustomed to wearing those in places with limited visibility.

"Right..." She said that to Two, but she looked at One worriedly. She was five years younger than her, but when Two was gone, she still felt way older. Four didn't blame her, though. She was going through a tough time. "What now?"

"We just did a quick check of everything," Two explained. "That's all there's is to do here. Good job pulling down that tower. They really should've worked on the foundation first."

"I hate to intrude on this," Sheldon chimed, "but how are we getting back?"

"We'd use the truck if we still had it," Four chided as she crossed her arms. "Cough."

Two looked at her weirdly. Did she just say "cough" out loud? "Th-that's enough, Four," she said. "Anyway, we'll use that Eagle thing. You guys can ride in the... rest of it." She didn't know how else to say that. Body? Hull? "It's actually more like a really fast helicopter with extra weapons than a plane. And I know how to fly a helicopter." She grinned, baring her teeth confidently.

One nervously laughed behind her. "Between the two of us, we own four. H-helicopters, I mean."

* * *

Cap'n Cuttlefish stood next to the door of Cuttlefish Cabin, vigilantly waiting for the return of the rest of the Splatoon.

He wondered when he stopped using the "t" in "captain" when introducing himself. It had to have been at least two years ago, because that's when Agent 3-

No, this wasn't important. They were taking a while to get back, even taking the travel time into consideration. Who knows what they might have encountered?

He shot a glance at Octavio's corner with his large, round eyes. He was being quiet. Too quiet.

Wait, that's because this globe had a sound muffling system near the base.

The hot pink folding screen that separated his corner from the rest of the outpost just barely reached above the top of the sphere.

Its frame was made of bamboo. It reminded the old captain of his cane. He didn't really need it as a cane, it was just a Bamboozler in disguise. But he needed to keep the appearance of a frail, old man so any potential enemies would underestimate him.

At least, that's what he liked to think of himself.

He hobbled over to the corner. Octavio must've seen his silhouette in the room divider, which wasn't very thick to begin with. Cap'n Cuttlefish swung it aside with his free hand.

Octavio was already glaring at him, one eye more open than the other, from the inside of the globe. It was about time he had some scenery other than that one side he had. Cuttlefish walked back to the door and sat on the cushion.

Immediately after, Octavio began rapidly tapping on the glass. Was he trying to escape again?

He jumped off of the cushion, pointing the Bamboozler at the globe. It usually splatted with two direct hits, but with an enemy of this size, it might take three.

Octavio stopped tapping once he saw he caught Cuttlefish's attention. He pointed with one of his unoccupied tentacles to the sky he could now see.

Cuttlefish spared a glance at the Eastern sky. He _was_ pointing at something. It looked like... a bird... no... it's massive, it couldn't be. And it was rapidly approaching!

What was that? Another Great Octoweapon? But it... it didn't seem to run on ink.

Octavio didn't look relieved at all. Either this wasn't a rescue vehicle, or he was faking something.

The bird slowed as it passed overhead, overtaking the serene silence with its booming thrusters. The whole thing rotated, pointing its head to the sky, and landed on its feet next to the cabin.

If he couldn't see it, he would have guessed it was a car crash with how loudly it landed.

A circular panel on its chest flipped open, followed by its entire head. Two jumped out of it, gracefully landing on the ground. "Sorry, Captain," she laughed, "but we lost the truck."


	14. Green-Eyed Glare

**#14**

* * *

Two sighed deeply, knowing exactly what would happen if she hit the muffle button on the base of Octavio's globe. But that was probably the only way to get him to stop repeatedly tapping the glass, and enduring a few minutes of his yelling was preferable to an hour of tapping.

There was no way he was trying to escape; even if he was, he was outnumbered four-to-one.

Sheldon didn't count. He already left, and even if he was there, what would he do?

Two looked behind her. One already went back to hiding behind the cabin, so she wasn't there. Four was trying to pose menacingly with her arms crossed and chin up, but seeing her next to the captain, hunched and drooling, made her look more like an unqualified nursing home employee.

Of course, the captain didn't belong in a nursing home. He was better than that. Despite his looks, he's aged tremendously.

Two squinted at Four again. What was she trying to accomplish with that pose? Even though she was one of the most talented people she'd ever met, Four was quite the child.

Two shook her head and went back to the globe. Mentally preparing herself, she stepped on the small, red muffle button. "Please stop that tapping," Two said flatly before he could start spouting. "We're kinda busy here."

"What is that!?" he bellowed. Somehow, his voice echoed even from inside the globe. He pointed the same tentacle he was using to tap the glass at the Eagle, standing with its head and chest hatch open next to the cabin.

Two shrugged. "Like I would know."

"Eagle?" Four offered. She dropped the pose and returned to standing like a normal person. "You said 'Eagle,' right?"

Octavio turned to her. "I never said to- Was this Octrope again!?"

"Probably?" Two shrugged once again. "Look, right now we're after Three, and-"

"He's in a kettle in the city!" Octavio shouted. "Don't you know where-"

"We know," Four interrupted. She held a hand up, but that wouldn't much against Octavio. "Hit the button again, I don't want to hear this anymore."

"Wait," said Cap'n Cuttlefish. He pushed through to the front, facing Octavio directly. "Why would you tell us that?"

After that, they peered suspiciously at each other, waiting for the other to act. Octavio growled deeply and angrily. The staring match looked like a battle for dominance between two sharks.

Two broke the stare before it could get any worse by shoving herself between them. "You know, I also heard someone call him 'General Octrope,' what's up with that?"

"He-" Octavio turned to the side and hit his head against the glass. "He's not. Get your precious Agent 3 back and catch this fake general," he growled.

"Oh, we're planning that first part." One burst out from behind the cabin, kicking some dirt up in the process. "We'd have him if you didn't kidnap him," she scoffed.

Octavio turned to her gravely. "You."

"Me!"

"One, get back," Two warned. She held an arm up to block her from getting closer. Octavio knew Callie's voice too well, and if he heard One talk any more, her cover was blown.

Four rushed towards the globe and dove for the button, hitting it before either of them could continue. She slowly looked up, but through some miracle, Octavio wasn't staring at her. He was staring at the captain again. He looked huge from where she was.

Two had One by the arms, holding her back as she struggled to free herself. One switched, allowing her smaller-than-average squid form to slip out.

Before she could storm towards Octavio again, Four slammed the pink folding screen back down. It was more than a physical wall to One; she could easily knock it down, but the mental aspect was still there. She clenched her fist and turned around.

Two took her hand and pulled her away. "Yeah, I think it's time for another talk in the cabin." She picked her up and literally carried One away.

Four watched as the wooden door slammed shut again. That was twice in the same day. She respected Two — No, it was Marie in this case — for helping Callie like that.

Rose didn't know her very well. What she did know was that Callie didn't have many memories from when she was brainwashed. Like it was a dream, pushed to her subconscious when she woke up.

Of course, she'd remembered some things. Like where Agent 3 was and how Golden Eggs affect wireless connections.

Four averted her gaze from the cabin. It made her uncomfortable to stare at it for that long. "What now... uh, Captain?" she questioned, reaching to change the subject.

He turned to her slowly, breaking his stare with the pink folding screen and dropping the defensive demeanor. "Well, uh... I think you're invading that lab tonight again."

"Tonight!?" Four exclaimed. "Again!?" She put her hands on her hips. That single sentence made her completely forget about what just happened with Octavio. "Ugh... Tell them I'm out doing... something, I don't know what it is."

* * *

"Because of course I'm here," Rose muttered to herself as she walked into Deca Tower.

She really needed to find a new hobby.

No, her "job" in the NSS didn't count. The whole thing was pretty much more Turf Wars, but... spicier.

"Oh hey, you again," a voice said from in front of her. Rose recognized the voice, but it wasn't too familiar.

She looked up to see... what was his name? The one that worked backstage for the Squid Sisters?

Sid, right. That's him. She met him the day before, the day when Callie accidentally dropped her sunglasses.

Rose felt short standing in front of him and his ridiculous height. "Hey," She said boredly. Anxious to fight, she walked past him and into the lobby

Whoever designed Deca Tower made some weird design choices. The only floor inside of it was the ground floor. Everything above it was just a tall pole for advertising.

There was a basement, but those were only for the lobbies.

The odd designs on the walls flashed across them, using a bunch of tiny lightbulbs to give the illusion of movement.

"Wait, hold on!" Sid urged. He caught up to her and whispered, "Don't say anything, but I think those two are... look."

He very obviously pointed directly towards two others in the rotunda. Those were clearly Callie and Marie to Rose, but in their public disguises.

Wait, no. Here, they were Lie and Rie. Those names sounded cheesy as heck, but they've probably been using them for a long time. Rose only had two names, but they had three each. It must've been confusing.

Once again, Marie was still trying to deal with her hair.

Rose nonchalantly approached them as Sid hesitantly and timidly followed. "Hey, this guy says he worked backstage for you guys," she commented, "is that true?"

"Whoa, you can't just-"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," interrupted Callie. She pushed herself off of the glass wall and stood up straight. "Hi, Sid. It's been a while. You've gotten taller again."

"Uhh..." Sid gaped. Did she just... walk up to them and start talking? "Rose, you know these two?"

"Maybe," Marie groaned. She gave up on trying to untangle her hair and just let it hang like that behind her head. She looked very annoyed. "By the way, Rose, we knew where you were going before you did," she teased.

"Wha-" She... she got her there. Rose only told the captain that she was going to do something. She didn't give him a specific because she didn't know what the specific was. Was she that predictable?

"Also, yeah. Tonight," Marie continued. "We're going tonight." She was talking about the lab again, right?

"Then I have time to kill!" Rose shouted. She marched further into the tower, prompting Callie and Marie to hurriedly follow after her.

Before stepping in, though, Callie turned back. "We need a fourth," she admitted to an extremely baffled Sid. "Come on."

"Wait, what?" he mumbled. Literally two days ago, they were both missing, and now that they were back, they were just thrusting themselves into the public like this? Didn't they have some super personal stuff to get through?

Or maybe they already did, and they were just coming back now.

But what does Rose have to do with any of it? It looked like she'd known them for a while, but that would be hard when they were missing.

Hesitantly, Sid followed, his Octobrush strapped to his back and his hands in his pockets.

They had a pretty good win streak.


	15. Something to Do

**#15**

 **I didn't really split a chapter here, but I sure did add one.**

* * *

It seemed like Rose was the type of person who was motivated by victory, because as soon as the win streak ended, she left the tower. Marie, of course, was the first to notice. She'd built a habit of scrutinizing everything she does.

"What's her problem?" Callie chuckled. "We didn't lose _that_ badly."

"I'd say that a difference of thirty percent is badly," Marie said curtly. She stepped back out of the Tower, taking a deep breath now that they were out of the humid lobbies. "And her? Don't worry about it, she'll be fine in about seven minutes." She slung her weapon around her shoulder, looking to the orange hues on the horizon. The second Lab raid was at midnight. "It's getting late. Let's head home, 'cause... yeah."

"So..." interjected Sid, uncomfortably shuffling to them. "Did... something... happen?" As socially oblivious as he usually was, he could tell that something was wrong, at least before then. Going missing for half a year doesn't happen on a regular basis.

"Heh," started Callie, ignoring his sudden appearance. She looked at him, her cap giving her face a dark shadow. "You don't wanna know." Then she turned back to Marie like nothing happened.

Sid's eyes widened in shock. That was his cue to back off. There was a weird look in her eyes, one that she never had before. He even saw it through the sunglasses, that there was something wrong.

Something _did_ happen, but it wasn't any of his business. As much as he wanted to press the topic, he pulled back, accidentally tripping over his Brush. He grunted as he hit the floor. "I'm okay!" he called from the floor as pulled himself back up.

Neither of them turned back to check on him.

* * *

"Stupid E-Liter campers..." Rose muttered to nobody in particular. She kicked the door to her room open. Annoyed, she looked at the nearest clock in her room, which happened to be really hard to see from her angle.

"Agh, there's still four hours!" she yelled. Her outburst didn't do much to help that, though. Other than waste half a second.

Something in her wanted to break the nearest window. Another wanted to jump out of said window.

Of course, jumping out of a window wouldn't hurt her at all. Inklings — and by extension, Octolings — could survive a fall from any height without a scratch.

On the other side of the room, her Hero Suit was hanging in the closet, mocking her, telling her to become Agent 4 again. She had no problem with her not-so-secret life as Rose, but being a part of the NSS was just so... exciting for her. What she did _mattered_! It wasn't just thrown away, like the end of a Turf War, it changed Inkopolis!

She had a pretty big hand in rescuing Callie and the Great Zapfish. Thinking about that thrilled her. Even though nobody would ever know other than the rest of the NSS, just doing something good was enough.

Rose looked at the clock again. Sitting and thinking on her tiny bed took exactly seven minutes. Three hours and fifty-three more minutes to go!

She screamed into her pillow. Not only was she not doing anything, every second that passed was another second Agent 3 was trapped!

That was more important, right?

But what would happen after they rescued Agent 3? Would they keep chasing after this "Akash" guy? How much of a threat was he?

So far, the only red flag he'd shown was capturing Agent 3. Wait, no, that wasn't even him that did that. That was Octavio. Then the only red flag was attacking them at Grizzco and with the Eagle. Yeah.

That sounded like a pretty big red flag, but it was nothing compared to the many big flags Octavio had. Also, Akash was actually helping the Octarian society without hurting Inkopolis through Grizzco.

Wait, no! There was also the "collection of random Inklings for research." That was hurting Inkopolis, so it was another flag for

That was two for Akash, and how many corn DJ Oc? There was the Zapfish, twice, Callie, Agent 3, almost killing her, and...

Two for Akash, a lot for Octavio.

Okay, that was the end of that train of thought. On to the next one. She instinctively looked around her room to find something to think about.

The bright color of the Hero Suit caught her eye again. The Hero Dualies, which were unofficially hers now, hung next to it, hooking on like two broken hangers.

* * *

The unspoken Octavio watcher was Captain Cuttlefish. Somebody had to do it. But there was something noble about doing nothing for a good cause.

At least he was used to standing in one place for long periods of time. In Octo Valley, his sole job was to talk to Agent 3 through a microphone. Which didn't involve much walking.

And then what happened six months ago, in that underground subway with Agent-

No, she said that never happened. That one wanted to keep everything a secret, and the captain respected her wishes.

If his memory was correct, there were only two Octolings on the surface. Her and the tall DJ. Marina, was it?

It was a sad case with the DJ. Her fame would become her downfall. As soon as someone underground caught word of her being on the surface, someone else would come to drag her back down. There was nothing he could do, though. He already warned her and her small partner shortly after their escape, but they assured him that they'd be safe.

The other, at least, would stay hidden, what with everything she did to keep her existence a secret.

An sound echoing from the manhole interrupted his thoughts. Someone was swimming through. It didn't sound like One, or Two, for that matter. And it certainly wasn't Agent 3.

So that left-

"Hey Cap' I'm waiting the rest of the time here!" Four flopped out of the entrance and onto the couch next to the tree. She welcomed its comforting softness as she sank into it.

Cuttlefish just looked on, not the least bit surprised. Between his own experiences and Agent 3's, he'd seen — and done — some weird things himself.

There were still just under four hours left, though. What was she thinking? Boredom, probably. It was always boredom with these young ones.

They sat in silence for the time being. What would a pair like this talk about? He went back to his job of Octavio watching and left Four to do... whatever it was she was doing.

Less than ten minutes passed before she stood back up and walked somewhere else. It was where she went that alerted Cuttlefish. Octavio's corner.

He let her stare at the folding screen, but he kept his guard up if Octavio happened to break out. She wasn't doing anything other than admiring the design.

...Of the single color.

For a second, he looked away. And there it was. The Eagle. The most majestic — and deadly — machine he'd ever seen. How was it powered?

Based on what Two told him, it was a bunch of Salmonid Golden Eggs. And according to One, they interrupted wireless connections. Is that why Two's communicator temporarily went offline?

Anyway, what was the most impressive part was the Agents stole this... Eagle. The whole thing. Granted, it cost six of the Hero Weapons, but in return, they got one giant one.

"So how much of a threat do you think this Akash guy is?"

The captain turned back, away from the Eagle. That was Four's voice. He opened his mouth to answer, but to his dismay, she wasn't talking to him.

She was talking to Octavio. Cuttlefish stopped himself from stopping them, since that was actually a very good question.

"And how I supposed to know that?" he snapped.

"I dunno," Four said boredly. "Maybe because you hate him so much?"

"He ordered them to build that!" Octavio yelled, gesturing to the Eagle. "Do you know how much power something like that uses!?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" said Four curiously. "He's collecting a bunch of Golden Eggs from Salmonids for power instead of the Great Zapfish.

"Wait, those brain-dead fish with the pans? They-" Octavio looked back at the Eagle. "Their eggs can do that!?"

"Apparently. Anyway, is he a threat or not?" Four was getting impatient. If they strayed any farther from the main topic, they'd never get to it.

Octavio breathed in to start talking again, but ended up saying nothing. He stopped for a moment, deep in thought. "He's actually... I dunno. Yeah, he's dangerous. Hates Inklings. Watch your back around him."

Four stood, her foot hovering over the muffle button. "Got it, thanks," she finally said. And with that, she hit the button and dragged the folding screen back. She exhaled slowly when she knew it was safe to do so. Did she just talk to Octavio by herself?

Something was different about him, the captain noticed. That was the most fruitful conversation anyone he knew has had with him since two years ago.

He even warned Four to be careful, when last time, he almost yelled in her face. Did he hate Akash that much?

Between that and him willing to tell them where Three was...

Cuttlefish watched Four stagger back to the couch. "Whoa," she muttered to herself. It seemed like she came to the same conclusion he did.

Akash had one more enemy.


	16. Liberation, Part 1

**#16**

 **Sans is in smash (but as a mii costume).**

 **There's no way this is the original timeline, we live in an AU, I swear.**

* * *

The Lab was, understandably, much darker than it was the first time. Sure, it was nearing pitch black last time, but now... it was closer to pitch black.

It should have held the three back, but if anything, it propelled them forward. No power meant that the electromagnetic door that Four mentioned was open, and that brought them closer to Three.

"Here's the door," Four said a bit too loudly. She turned around excitedly only to be met with Two shushing her.

...And One said absolutely nothing. It must've been difficult to reach the optimal volume with that mouth mask.

Ignoring Two's warning, Four gripped the handle and pulled it. To her surprise, the door effortlessly swung open and just barely missed her face. "Ow," she said on instinct, even though nothing touched her.

Nobody else reacted.

The beeline they made for the door earlier was empty; there was nobody there, as far as they knew. Four peeked in with one eye and saw nothing. Grimacing, she pulled the door open the rest of the way and opened fire at the darkness.

Still, nothing was there.

"Stop," Two said. She came as close to he doorframe as possible without going inside. "Four, drop an Autobomb."

"On it!" Four reached for her back, at the top of her ink tank, and pressed the lid. When she brought her hand back, a small, robotic contraption was in her hand. She tossed it inside.

The Autobomb landed on its side, righted itself so its feet were on the ground, and promptly exploded in place.

"It's empty," Two said with a hint of disbelief. "Did they all take the day off?"

"W-we still don't know what's inside," One interjected. She didn't have to explain further. Who knows, the room could have absolutely nothing inside.

Four pushed her way back to the front. "Welp, I'm going in," she said. Before anyone could talk her out of it, she bolted in while firing wildly in every possible direction.

Two held a hand out in a failed attempt to catch her. "Wait, Four-!"

The firing continued. Two dropped her hand when the firing stopped.

"I'm okay!" Four called. There was an echo to her voice. It must've been a long room. "C'mon, it's fine!"

One turned around. Still nobody. They should've been relieved at the lack of enemies, but too little of them probably meant something bad. None, even more so. One timidly walked backwards, facing the hall, towards the place from which Four called.

Across the room, Four continued her march forward almost tripped over something, but she stopped her foot before she did. She bent over and leaned closer to it, and saw that she was peering down yet another kettle. The bottom was barely visible, just another floor that looked just as stony as the rest of the Lab.

"Huh, that's weird, a kettle in a kettle?" Two remarked next to her, mimicking her thoughts perfectly. When... when did she get there?

"Th-the room ends here," Four noted, gesturing towards the wall just past it. Again, she looked back at the kettle. "One way to go from here, right?"

Two, standing next to her, blinked. Of course, nobody knew that because of the sunglasses on top of the darkness. They actually didn't impair her vision at all; they worked only one way. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. "I... I guess not," she said, after a mental remapping of the entire place. The only room they hadn't been to was the one where that one Octoling commanded a bunch of others to attack them.

By the time she said that, Four was already inside.

 _She's gonna get herself killed one day,_ Two thought as she followed her.

That was quite the dreary thought, but she was used to thinking that. Four tended to throw herself at dangerous situations. Miraculously, she'd always win them by a large margin. Except for the time she fought six of them. That was fifty-fifty.

After the abnormally long drop, Two landed, held her arms up, and nonchalantly caught One. It was a lot easier to catch Callie when she was a squid.

"Hey!" One complained as she squirmed to escape the grasp. "Only _I_ get to do that!"

Two smirked as she dropped One next to her. "It's a lot brighter down here," she commented, completely ignoring what she just did.

She was right; there were actual working lights down there. They could see that they were in a large, cylindrical room. The hole for the kettle was the size of a needle's eye above them.

A pit — which was, as far as they cared, bottomless — surrounded the circular platform on all sides, making the floor of the room a reverse-donut. Of course, it wasn't actually bottomless, but if one of them fell down there, they sure weren't coming out.

"Forget the lights!" Four exclaimed in front of them. "Don't you see _that_!?"

What Four was eagerly referring to was a machine which, to her credit, should have been mentioned first.

Standing at the height of Deca Tower was an Inkling-shaped machine. Other than the model, it looked a lot like the Eagle — metal body, glowing joints, clear head. In its right hand was a large cylinder, but it opened up at one end, revealing only darkness underneath it.

Four went closer to it, testing each step to see if it would react. From there, she couldn't see the head clearly, so if there was a pilot in there, they weren't doing much piloting.

She stopped, four steps from the machine's foot. Something inside her compelled her to back away. Maybe it was her own instincts, maybe it was something she saw.

"We're in danger," Four said calmly as she stepped back, close to the others. She drew her Dualies and and hovered her fingers over the triggers.

A moment of silence passed over the room.

"Freedom," said a voice, breaking that silence. "What does it mean?" Whoever it was, he sounded saddened by something.

All three of the very looked around, trying to find where the voice came from.

"Th-that's him!" One shouted. That was his voice, she realized, the one she hadn't heard for half a year. "Three, you're..."

"I don't think I was free," he continued.

Two squinted at the clear head, looking for someone inside, but she couldn't see a thing from her angle.

"I wonder," he said. "Can you set me free?"

As soon as the last word left the speakers dotting the walls, the machine started to stir, moving like it was a statue breaking from its stillness. Its arms swung outwards, it stood up straight.

And, from the cylinder it was holding, a stream of purple ink sprouted, growing until it fell into the pit. A gigantic Inkwhip.

Sheldon excitedly told all of them about the prototype already, but was it really complete? And this big?

No words of action were needed. When the machine raised its right hand up, bringing the base of the Inkwhip with it, the three split. Four sprinted closer as One and Two took both sides.

 _The largest disadvantage to being bigger is being slower,_ Two thought, running to the side. _We'll have to exploit that._

Four swam between its legs, leaping out of the stream to fire at both of the glowing spots at its ankles. She cut holes in both, leaving them leaking, but it wasn't enough to break off the feet. She felt something coming from behind her, so she ducked and rolled to her right.

The giant Inkwhip flew by as Four barely dodged it. As she went back to swimming in the ground, she saw that everything it touched left purple ink on it.

Luckily for them, this included one of the feet.

One ran to where Four was and charged to the foot that broke. There was a fiery glint in her eyes. She was fighting a lot more vigorously, Four noticed.

One swung her Roller sideways at the foot and sent it sliding across its own purple ink trail. It tipped over the edge of the platform and fell.

Now lacking a foot, the machine staggered, using one hand to keep wildly flicking its Inkwhip and the other to press against the wall and keep it upright.

Two released a shot at the other foot, drilling another hole to join the many in its ankle, and jumped backwards as the Inkwhip trailed in front of her. After it passed, she shot one of the knees. It didn't do much other than leave a negligible pinprick.

Two grimaced. Her weapon was next to useless here! She took another step back and looked at the battlefield, trying to think of something she could do other than slowly cut holes in the large, orange spots on the machine.

The machine was relentlessly swinging its Inkwhip at One and Four, who were continuously dodging left and right, forward and back. It was weakly moving its hand to keep the weapon near them, and it seemed to forget about Two entirely.

It was relying on one hand and one foot to keep upright. If the other foot was gone, it'd be on even footing again.

But if the hand was gone...

"The wrist!" Two yelled furiously at One and Four. If the hand was gone, it would fall.

"On it!" Four yelled back. After sidestepping the Inkwhip one last time, she swam to the intact foot. She shot a path for herself up the leg and quickly started to swim upwards. The wall was too far to even attempt to reach.

One dodged the same swing that Four did and followed her up the leg. _Don't worry, Three,_ she thought.

Two charged forward, getting right under the Inkwhip hand, and fired directly up. Even from the closest place she could be, she barely reached it.

It still did nothing.

By then, the pilot noticed One and Four. The right hand turned, flicked, and sent the other end after them.

Four saw this, turned back, and swam to the knee. Nobody could see it, but she was smirking. Before the Inkwhip hit them, Four kicked out of the leg and snatched One out of the ink. Together, they fell.

"Sorry," Four whispered.

The Inkwhip, as it hit the knee, sliced through the orange glow.

All Four did was drop One by her side and run. Two backed off, watching the machine as its leg tipped to the side and dragged itself and the foot down into the abyss.

It wasn't what Two thought about doing, but this worked, too.

The machine crashed onto its remaining leg, tipped over, and dropped to the ground, making the metal sheets scrape into each other. The head didn't shatter; the hands stopped it before the head hit the floor.

There _was_ someone in there, but they were just a blur as they stumbled on the side of the glass.

"Heh," Four taunted as the noise died down. "Do I get a big mech, too?" She holstered her Dualies again, proud of herself after her stunt.

In response, it started to push itself back up, forgoing the Inkwhip and tossing it to the pit. In a situation like this, the sensible thing to do would be to get away.

And Four never picked that route.

She left the group, swam to the machine, and hooked her hands to its shoulder before it rose out of reach. The metal on its leg scraped on the floor as it bent, struggling to hold the weight of the rest of it.

Four went up as the shoulder did, bringing her to a frightening height. Both legs detached and fell away, and the torso slammed upright into the floor.

For a moment, it stopped, regaining its statue-like stillness as it rested its hands on the ground. In that moment, Four scrambled up, finding her balance on the curved shoulder.

Then one hand started to rise. It curled its fingers into a fist and slammed the floor, sending the entire room into a loud tremor.

The neck, like the rest of the joints, was glowing as well. Noticing that first, Four opened fire on it and punctured the glow as much as she could in the short time she had.

She sensed someone super jumping to her. It was One. The reticle showing exactly where she would land appeared in her mind, so she crawled out of the way as the other first hit the floor again, almost flattening Two.

When she was sure One would land safely, Four rolled off of the shoulder, firing a final volley of ink at the neck. She watched as One landed on her feet, almost slipped , then slammed her roller into the neck, cutting the whole thing off. It sounded like a knife cutting through rope.

Instead of falling, the glass head floated.

Without a power source, the arms collapsed, lifelessly dropping and breaking apart. One sank into the shoulder so as to not fall off in the shaking.

When the sound died down and the echoes subsided, One looked back up, at the head where the pilot stood, emotionlessly staring at her though the same pair of Hypno-Shades she wore.

It was him.

* * *

 **Welp, I'm splitting chapters again. This one, honestly, is the most appropriate to do so. In addition to being the most crucial chapter so far, it was also, originally, the longest.**

 **I liked the name too much, though. See you in part 2 in probably two weeks instead of one!**


	17. Liberation, Part 2

**#17**

* * *

When he was on duty, they called him Agent 3. When he wasn't, he was just Simon.

So... what did that make him then? It looked like he disguised, the Hypno-Shades were on, but he wasn't on duty. One could recognize him anywhere, but was that really him in there? Or was it just a shadow of what he used to be?

"S... Th-three?" One called. Panting, she heaved herself up, waiting for someone, even herself, to think of something else to say. He didn't respond. One edged closer to the glass, calling louder. "Three?"

She was desperately reaching for a response. There was no way she could break the glass, even with the Roller. He didn't even open his mouth, he just kept staring at her through the shades, completely motionless. Like he lost power along with the machine.

A second passed. Then another. One placed her hand on the glass barrier separating them.

 _This is still enemy territory,_ she thought to herself as she kept her balance on the shoulder. _I have to be careful._

He took a step towards her. She looked up, hopeful.

Then he slowly mouthed something to himself, then kept going, tiredly approaching her. He was struggling to walk, but she couldn't tell why. His hand was pressed on the side of his head, like he was in pain.

"Three!" she said, louder than before. "Can you hear me!"

As he reached the edge of the platform inside the glass, he knelt to close the distance between them. Again, he mouthed something to himself. This time, it transmitted as static through the speakers on the walls. The glass was muffled, like Octavio's globe.

The Hypno-Shades weren't completely on his face. One saw that then, they were sitting crooked in front of his nose, but he didn't seem to notice they were there. His eyes were glossy, like he was looking, but not seeing. "Three..." she whispered.

Did he know who he was looking at? Was he still under their control?

An explosion sounded from the bottom of the head. Thrusters erupted from the circular bottom, the only part of that wasn't made of glass. It rose upwards, taking him out of view. The sudden blast of wind threw One backwards, off the shoulder. She fell, timing her squid form transition into their color of ink to minimize the impact.

Four swam to her, emerging as she approached the lifeless arm of the machine. "What happened up there!?" she said frantically. Her gaze continually jumped between where One landed and the escaping glass orb.

One climbed out of the ink, immediately finding where Three was going. He wasn't controlling it anymore, she could tell. Going up seemed to throw him off balance as well.

There was a new hole at the top of the wall. It looked like it slid open, large enough for the glass orb to slip through. The head was quickly flying to the new exit.

Two pointed her Charger at it, but the aiming laser faded before it reached it. "It's out of range, I can't reach it!" Two yelled over the noise.

One shut her eyes and concentrated on the moving head. Yes... that was his signature, no doubt about it. If she just thought about checking earlier...

"Follow me," she said boldly.

"Wh-wha-?" Four stammered.

One transformed again, fell back onto the ink, and lied there for a brief moment. When every part of her was ready to super jump, she shot upwards, sailing to the head.

As she flew, she caught another glimpse of Three. Again, he was standing still, staring at her with the Hypno-Shades perched on his head. Did something knock them back on?

One landed, and broke into a sprint.

Two and Four dropped in unison behind her. Four let loose a Curling Bomb, which they promptly followed.

The hall they were running through was large, rectangular, and pure white. That was all. There was nothing special about it, it had to have been only a backup plan if the rest of the machine failed.

Eventually, Two and Four caught up to One. She joined them in the chain of Curling Bombs.

 _She's swimming... a lot faster,_ Two noticed.

The head was gradually increasing the distance between them. Three was still inside, still lifelessly glaring at them.

"I can see something... over there!" Four said between bombs. "It's stopping soon!"

Sure enough, there was an opening on the other side of the hall, showing a dull, grey wall. Three didn't turn around to look at it.

The head reached the other side, and stopped for a moment before staring to rise upwards again. Three seemed unfazed by the momentum change.

Four tossed one last Curling Bomb. It slid forward, then fell as it left the white floor.

"That's a cliff!" Four yelled. She swerved herself to the side and flopped out of the thin trail of ink. Two went the other way, rolling out and stopping as she's came to the wall.

They glanced upwards, then back at One. She leapt out of the trail, continuing to give chase. She spun around midair, then transformed back.

"One!" Two shouted.

In one swift motion, One pulled a Burst Bomb from her ink tank and hurled it upwards, right at the thrusters.

Two looked down, past the end of the white hall, and, to her relief, saw a floor without any holes in it. Two aimed at it and released the trigger of her Charger. It made another small path.

The head stopped. They couldn't see Three, the platform inside blocked their vision.

One fell first. She kept moving from the direction she came from, landing headfirst into the stream that Two made. She swam to the other side of it, then crossed the rest of the room running.

The head's thrusters sputtered as it struggled to keep moving to another hole in the ceiling. The ink from the Burst Bomb seemed to greatly damage it. It tipped over, but before it could fly chaotically around the grey room and slam into the walls, the thrusters shut off altogether.

For a moment, it seemed to hang in the air, suspended by an unseen string, like it was the last part of a broken puppet.

A puppet. That's what Three was. A puppet.

The head fell, slowly and then quickly. A puff of air escaped the thrusters.

When it hit the floor, it shattered, loud enough to be heard clearly from the ceiling. Inside, Three was shielding his head with his arms.

One turned around and hid in the ink.

 _He's fine,_ she thought confidently. _He's survived worse._

When the ringing of glass on the floor stopped, One peeked out.

Surrounding the platform that was inside the head — the only part was wasn't broken — were several shards of glass, each in varying sizes. Now that things had slowed down, they could get a good look at the new room.

The reason it was grey was because it was all metal. Other than missing the long hole in the floor, it was exactly like the room from before, complete with speakers dotting the walls.

Three was standing in the middle of the platform that was now sitting, crooked, on the floor. He lifted his arm weakly, then dropped it.

One took a cautious step towards him. Was he... free?

In response, the Hypno-Shades fell from his face. It clattered on the floor, but he didn't seem to know they did. He did the same thing she did, taking a step towards her, but then he fell forwards, losing consciousness as he did. He crushed the Hypno-Shades beneath his chest, then lay still.

Two clenched her teeth in the white hall. She stepped into the room and fell. She landed on her feet, her shoes protecting her from the glass.

"W-wait!" Before Four could finish the word, she was already falling after her.

Two placed her hand on Three's back. One was standing, afraid, at the edge of the elevated platform.

"He's alive," Two decided. "A few cuts, but that's all. I'll carry him. Now for a way out..."

"Oh..." Four said apologetically. "Should I... should I have stayed up there?"

"No," Two responded flatly, "we couldn't take him with a jump. Four, try that door. And this time, don't go running in."

"Uh... okay..." In reality, Four didn't see the door before Two pointed it out to her. She released her pent-up breath and went to it. Two was in "serious mode" again. She intimidated Four a lot more when she was like this.

Four put her hand on the door handle. That felt weird. This was the first time she actually raided an Octarian base with doors. Everything else was separated because they were all floating platforms. Was this just a thing that Akash liked to do?

She looked over her shoulder. Two was strapping her Charger to her back while One stared intently at the unconscious Three.

 _So that's him..._ she thought. _Wonder how good he is..._

Based on what Two had told her in Octo Canyon, he was the best out of all of them. "No offense to you, of course," she had said though her headset.

She stopped herself. She was taking too long to open this simple door. Four pulled the handle, and it didn't almost hit her in the face this time. Unlike the one on the floor above, this one had lights beyond it.

"Uh...? It's clear..." she called. "But there's... how do I explain this?"

"What is it?" Two said from directly behind her.

Four jumped and instinctively reached for her Dualies. That was second time that night Two had materialized behind her. She had mastered the art of silent walking, even with these weird boots. One was right next to her, periodically glancing at Two.

Four , embarrassed, shuffled to the side. "I think I found the captives," she finished.

"What?" Two exclaimed

"What?" One echoed.

One burst through the doorframe, and she saw that Four was right. The next room over was in a straight line, but it was as tall as the one before, with clear, white holding cells arranged in a grid amongst the walls and reaching to the ceiling. She could only see Inklings in a few of them, but that didn't tell her how many there were in total.

First Three... and now this? She knew there were captives, but this many?

Four ran in behind her. "I'll scout ahead. Get these cells open." With that, she slid another Curling Bomb across the floor. She reached the end of the hall and disappeared as she turned down another one.

"Four..." Two mumbled. She knelt and placed Three next to the wall, but still kept her Charger on her back. Two scanned the walls for cameras or motion sensors, but there were none that were immediately visible. If every one of these cells was filled there must've been at least thirty- no, forty.

Two grimaced. Octavio never did this...

A question she'd been asking herself for the past few days floated to her mind again. How dangerous is Octrope? If he was willing to do this, that put him above Octavio.

Left with nothing else to do, she went to one of the ground-level cells as One searched the walls for a switch or button that would open all of them at once. There was an Inkling captive inside, wearing the same lime green color that Three wore.

They must've had a sick hatred for that shade of green. It was the NSS's signature color, but they really had to go so far as to dress their prisoners in it. She tapped the glass with the tip of her finger.

The Inkling inside stirred, first lifting her head to look at her. She had short hair, just a few shades lighter than Three's birth color. She tensed.

Two tried to look as gentle as possible, even with the suspicious-looking sunglasses and the combat outfit. She waved lightly, as if to reassure her they were here to free her.

"There's a staircase to the left!" Four's voice abruptly echoed in the hallway. "It leads outside... I think!"

"Good!" One responded, also shouting. "'Cause I just found the right button!" Two looked over to see One punch the wall with horrible form.

She looked back at the prisoner. The glass wall separating them was swinging inwards, towards the prisoner. She slowly and timidly stood up. Two smiled at her. "Come on," she whispered.

"Hey, people I don't know!" Four yelled from the other side. "Look at me, I'm not an Octoling, come on!"

Two guided the captive towards Four, then went back to Three. She slung him over her shoulder.

It looked like her initial estimate of forty was incorrect. She counted thirty-two as they dropped from their cells. That was better than forty, but still... that many?

Two took the end of the line. Everyone was running towards Four, who she hoped was leading them in the right direction. She managed to keep up, and as she entered the intersecting hall, the crowd turned left.

One was blocking the other side. She slammed her Roller sideways into an Octoling and kicked another down. She finished her off with a downward swing.

"Wall!" Two yelled. She could see more running to them in the distance. They could easily take them, but protecting these prisoners was their first priority.

One understood, waving to let her know she did. She reached for her ink tank and pulled a small capsule from it, tossing it in front of her. The capsule unfolded when it hit the floor, rising up and extending outwards. The Splash Wall started to spew ink down at the floor.

One turned and ran with Two. They could see the staircase ahead, and a small bit of moonlight. The prisoner Two talked to was just ahead of them.

Two used her other hand to reach for her Charger as she climbed the staircase. She held the trigger down until she heard the click.

At the top of the staircase, she pivoted, aimed, and released the trigger, catching three Octolings in a straight line. One briefly slowed down.

They walked the rest of the way.

* * *

 **Aaaand here's part 2! Again, not really much to say about this one.**


	18. The Cyan-Haired One

**#18**

 **Whew, sophomore year is a lot harder than I anticipated. Hopefully next week'll be a longer chapter.**

* * *

"...and thirty-two. Yup, that's all of them." Two turned around.

It was just barely reaching sunrise. The former prisoners were having mixed reactions to freedom. Some were uncomfortably shuffling in place, others were just staring at whatever was close by. The one thing they all had in common was complete silence.

The other exit to the lab was apparently another abandoned building. As soon as One and Two strolled out, it slammed shut, seemingly on its own.

"Can't see any tracking devices either," Two continued. She said it loudly in an attempt to catch One and Four's attention. Four was blankly scanning the crowd, and One was... guarding the unconscious Three. It was almost impossible to see him in the corner she put him in.

"Uh?" Four asked loudly. "What now?"

Relieved that Four paying at least some attention, Two turned back around at the crowd. "You can go," she said softly in a voice higher than her usual one. "We were never here. Got it?"

A few of them looked up at her.

"I said go! You can... you can go now. Just don't mention us," she squeaked. Two slung her Charger over her shoulder. She didn't want to scare them.

And then they all started walking, backwards and slowly at first, then slightly faster. All in the same direction. Except for one.

Two looked on in pity, shifting her weight to the other leg. How long were they down there? Did anyone know them? What are they going to do with their lives now?

It was impossible to change their experiences. For the rest of their lives, they'll have to live with the fact that they were trapped against their own will for something they didn't do.

And for that reason, Two hated Akash Octrope a little more.

"You see, Four," she said in her normal voice, "that's what you do if we ever find another hostage. Try to be more... gentle than I was." She looked and noticed the one that wasn't moving. She was the one from before, the only one she talked to underground. "Uh..."

"Whoa, hold on," Four broke in before Two could say anything else. "What's your name?"

Two whirled around yet again. Four was, of course, addressing the short, cyan-haired one. She went up to her, keeping some distance between them. She started to get closer, but then stopped herself.

"Hey..." Four said, "You can trust me." She held out a hand weakly.

Even with the distance, the prisoner flinched, pulled herself away. She was breathing short, ragged breaths, tilting her head down and holding her arms in an x in front of her.

Four wasn't moving. "Come on, it's fine."

The prisoner looked up, clenching her teeth. She made a noise, but it meant nothing.

Four exhaled sharply. The prisoner flinched. "Rose," Four said.

"Wha- Four!" Two snapped. "N-not here!" She shot a glance at the door leading underground. It was still closed.

"Rose," she said again. "That's my name. Yours?"

The cyan-haired Inkling dropped her arms to her sides. Her eyes relaxed, and she started making a curious expression. "Mo..." she trailed off.

"Morgan?" Rose guessed. "It's been a while. I wouldn't have recognized you if it wasn't for the eyes."

 _Her eyes..._ Two thought.

The prisoner's... no, Morgan's eyes... they were slanted, resembling Three's, and they were the same bright cyan as her hair.

And Four... no, Rose knew her.

Rose held her hand out a little further. "Come on," she said warmly. "I'm not here to hurt you. S...Sorry about this, but I... I might need to ask you a few things."

Interrogation! That's what Two was forgetting! Of course they needed to do that!

And she almost sent all of their chances at that away. She mentally kicked herself.

She silently hoped that at least this one would cooperate. And she recognized Rose, so that would help, at least a little bit.

Rose waved at Two, signaling that she was leaving. Two waved back, looking away in embarrassment.

 _And she even said it better than I did..._

"Uh, Ma- Two? You okay?" One echoed from the nearby alley. "You look... something, I don't know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said. She pushed her sunglasses up and shrugged it off. "Let's get him somewhere safe."

* * *

The dimness of the inside of Cuttlefish Cabin enveloped everything. A single candle provided the only light in the room, casting eerie shadows on the walls and the shelves that lined them.

"How long?" Four asked. Knowing Morgan, she'd have to keep this as concise as possible. She needed time to talk.

"Long- Uh..." She flinched. "F- I'm sorry!"

Four kept silent.

Morgan took a deep breath. She clenched her eyes shut and faced away, covering her head. "A year..." she squeaked. "N-No! A year and a half... There was... a calendar. I-in the room. Cell, I mean." Her shoulders dropped. "A year, six months, seven days, three hours..." she droned. She relaxed her eyes turned back to Four, staring at the table with the candle separating them.

Four looked on in worry. Was this really the Morgan she knew? She never... never _changed_ as quickly as she did then.

She debated whether to say something now or save it until she looked... better.

Morgan answered the question by talking again. "I didn't see them do anything... Just... the whole day, every day, we were all stuck there."

Four blinked. That wasn't what she wasn't expecting. She remembered the documents the team found and thought that they were for Hypno-Shades research.

She knew they had a model that worked on Octolings, that much was obvious. And there was that one pair that Callie had, so there was model that worked on Inklings.

So why did they have to keep researching?

"But I once saw something..." said Morgan, staring tiredly at the table. "It was at night... I heard something, it woke me up. Somebody... one of the cells was open. A guard carried him out, he was asleep, still.

"An hour later, they put him back. Closed the door. I don't know what they did with him."

 _While they were asleep..._ Four thought.

After Marie shot those glasses off, Callie seemed to forget everything that happened while she was hypnotized. Like it was all a dream.

 _A dream..._

"W-what else?" Four gripped the table to keep herself still.

Morgan looked up. "Some days, I'd wake up... and I'd have a headache..."

"Th-that's enough," Four decided, a bit too late for her own liking. She didn't want her to keep going with this. "Come with me. I'll take you back."

* * *

Inkopolis continued with its daily routine as if nothing happened. That was the beauty of a city; it was impossible to move it.

And the square was no different. Even when one part was weak, the greater whole was unaffected.

"Remember me?" Rose said softly. "We knew each other in middle school, right?"

There was bench next to Deca Tower. That was where they were. It was the closest thing they could find.

"Yeah," Morgan whispered next to her. "Sorry... it's so weird being up here again."

A wave of relief washed over Rose. If that ended up not being the Morgan she thought it was, that would have been embarrassing.

"Sucks that you had to move, though." Morgan forced a smile, but didn't look at Rose.

"Didn't you say you had a brother?" Rose asked, changing the subject. She was very uncomfortable, and the sibling that Morgan said she always looked up to would do a lot better job at comforting her than Rose could.

"Yeah," she said again, even more quietly than before. "But... I don't think he remembers me."

* * *

 **Well. I went back over the old version and oh my lord the characterization was terrible. See, it's chapters like this that really beg for a rewrite.**

 **Anyway, here I am splitting a chapter for, like, the ninety second time. I really messed up the pacing a year and a half ago.**

 **So, Three wakes up next week. See you then!**


	19. Reunion

**#19**

 **Sorry about no chapter last week, but I have a long weekend, so I may have another one up soon.**

* * *

He woke with a splitting headache.

 _Behind... enemy... lines..._ was his first thought. He clenched his eyes shut. Even thinking hurt.

Surroundings. Okay. That first.

He was lying down again, like he was in the cell. But it was somehow... different?

Scowling, he forced his eyes to open. He painstakingly pushed himself off of whatever he was on, wincing as he sat up.

The headache must have impaired his vision somehow, because the walls looked... pink.

 _Behind... enemy..._

His hands were empty. He was unarmed.

Door. There was a door, not like the one in the cell. It was painted white, like a normal one.

In that time he was unconscious, they had to have moved him to a different place.

He took a step forward, and then his knees buckled. He hit his knees on the floor. Carpet, he realized. It was carpet.

"He's awake!" someone yelled from elsewhere. No... someone heard him falling. If a guard found him like this...

He put one foot on the floor and used it to push himself up. That put him closer to the door. He took one step, then another, nearly falling back down each time. He came to understand that not only did he have a headache, he was unexplainably exhausted.

The only thing he had was his hands. If, when a guard opened this door, he used his hands to knock them unconscious, that'd put him one step closer to freedom.

Footsteps echoed outside. Whoever was coming towards him was running.

Come to think of it, why did that voice sound so... familiar? And why did they use the Inkling language? Most Octolings were bilingual, but not many used Inkling in normal conversation.

He stood in front of the door, steeled himself, and took on a fighting pose. He'd have to get ready to dodge to the right, then lunge at them. That would give him the best chance at victory.

His head throbbed, and he winced again. The door flew open. Just as he planned, he dodged to the right. But then he stopped before lunging.

That wasn't a guard in the doorway, that was...

In an instant, his instincts fell away. His Agent persona faded, and all that was left was Simon.

He fell, losing consciousness before he hit the floor.

* * *

"Classic Three," Marie muttered. She took a sip from her dainty teacup. "Never holding back."

"I carried him back to the bed," Callie said harshly. She dropped on the chair across from Marie, crossing her arms.

The Squid Sisters' apartment was unexpectedly small for a couple of celebrities. The only rooms in there were two separate bedrooms and a few more combining the rest of the needed stuff. The walls were painted in a light blue, with the exception of Callie's room, which she personally recolored magenta.

"Four's still questioning that one prisoner," Marie remarked, in an attempt to strike up a conversation. She immediately realized that that wasn't a good conversation starter. "Still mad at the Octarians?"

"Yeah..." Callie admitted. "I'd go down there myself, but we... need someone to watch Simon."

"Watch. Riiight," she said with a sly grin.

"Shut it, Marie."

"Okay, okay, fine. But let's stop talking about what they did. What interests me is why they did it." Marie took another sip.

"What are you drinking?" Callie asked casually, as if she wasn't ready to snap the table in half a few seconds ago.

"Just milk tea. Anyway, why do you think they kidnapped an entirely neighborhood?"

Callie thought for a moment. She uncrossed her am she and set them on the table separating them. "Maybe it was to get a pair of Hypno-Shades working? Wait, no, they already had-"

"No, no, I think you're on the right track. We already know that the Hypno-Shades work on Octolings, but most of them are deactivated." She knew that because of a mission from a long time ago. The main use of the Hypno-Shades on an Octoling soldier was to get them out of a tight spot or "inspire" them to keep going if they weren't passionate enough. Other than that, they were just uniform.

"Where are you going with this?" Callie eyed her suspiciously. Marie always had something running in her mind. It scared her sometimes.

"A pair of Hypno-Shades designed for Octolings wouldn't work on an Inkling. We have very different brain structures. You had a different model, and they reused the same pair for Simon."

Callie didn't respond. Marie was on one of her stupidly accurate theory rants, and there was no stopping her now.

Marie put the cup back into the saucer. "So, the same works in reverse. A pair for an Inkling wouldn't work on an Octoling."

"Your point?"

"They're trying to find a small, cost-effective pair that works on both."

Callie has no clue what to say to that. It sounded convincing, but it was just a theory until... at least when Four got back with the prisoner.

"H-Hey, what happened?" said a voice from down the hall, breaking the conversation.

"And he's already up," muttered Marie. "How're you feeling?" she shouted down the hall.

Simon staggered out of Callie's room, clutching the doorframe. "Wh...what?" He looked tired. At best.

He was an average-looking Inkling boy of average height. Sixteen years old, two years in the NSS. His disguise, like Four's, was nothing. He didn't need one. Blue was his natural eye color, along with his hair, which was short, messy, and tousled.

By the time Marie could finish the rest of her tea, Callie was over there, fawning over him like a mother over her young. "How're you feeling? Better?" she asked, faster than she usually did.

"Y-yeah, but where am I?" He blinked, stretched his shoulders, and stood up straight. Almost like he wasn't holding on to the wall for support a second before.

The NSS members we're usually very good at adapting to a given situation. Other than Four, but she was new.

"Our new apartment," Marie explained. Simon started walking over to the table. "We moved here, like, five-ish months ago. You missed a lot."

"Like what?" Simon took the seat that Callie had before. She, expectedly, didn't protest. Marie shot her another sly grin. "NSS stuff?"

"All of it was NSS stuff. Hmm... where do I begin?"

"We got an Agent 4," Callie interjected, taking a different chair. "Or, no, _she_ got an Agent 4."

"Zapfish again?" Simon leaned back in his seat.

"Mmm-hmm," Marie nodded. "We're good there, now, Four got it back. What else... Oh. Yeah. Cal, you want to tell him, or should I?"

Callie flinched. "N-no, I'll..."

* * *

"B-but I'm fine now!" Callie sputtered. "You don't... need to worry... about me..." her head dropped into her arms.

 _Should've made her leave the room..._ Marie thought, grimacing. "Sorry," she said, to no one in particular.

"So that's what I missed..." Simon tilted his head downwards in shame. "I leave for a while, and... I couldn't..."

Callie lifted her head and stretched. "Y-yeah. What happened on your end?"

Simon shook off the remorse. He started to say something, then stopped himself.

 _Wait... no, skip that part._

"Grizzco," he began, "Did the captain tell you about that?"

"Yeah."

"They used me as a mask. Made me go up there and make the company myself," he explained, crossing his legs. "All I had to do was be the representative and get thrown back in the cell when I was done. I founded Grizzco... to sum it up," he said angrily.

 _He's leaving out the part where he only did it after they threatened to hurt me,_ Callie thought.

"So where's this Four?" he asked after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"The Outpost, probably," Callie suggested. She was relieved to be off of that topic. "Questioning one of the other prisoners."

"Other?" Simon stood up. "There were more?" he asked, wondrous more than angry.

"Well, there was me..." Callie said timidly, trying to hide her face. "You... you knew I was there..."

Simon shot a quick glance at her, then looked back at nothing. "Y-yeah, but how many?"

"I counted thirty-two," Marie broke in, tossing the teacup behind her. Somehow, it didn't shatter. "Thirty-one are gone. Four's questioning the last one. Apparently she knew her."

"Right..." Simon trailed off. He looked away.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Callie interjected again. She stood up and almost ran into him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her smiling. It was genuine... somehow. "Let's all head to the square!" she chuckled.

Simon consciously decided to not shoot her a weird look. It seemed like Callie just went from one personality to another.

He'd have to keep that in mind.

"S-sure," he sighed. "I've missed a lot, haven't I?"


	20. Another Reunion

**#20**

 **Let me just tell you returning folks that I am retconning Rose's backstory because it sucked and added literally nothing. This will not affect any part of the story, so whatever.**

* * *

"Isn't that just Inkopolis Tower 2.0?" Simon asked, hands in his green hoodie's pocket.

"That's exactly what it is, good for you," Marie said flatly. "Now, what other things can we find in the parallel universe that is Inkopolis Square?"

Hmm. Seemed like Marie was exactly the same as the last time he saw her. And, now that he thought about it, so was Callie. Weird. Did _anything_ change while he was gone, or did it all just migrate to somewhere else in Inkopolis?

"Well," he sighed. "There's the shoe place, hats and glasses, everything else. Sheldon's still on Ammo Knights, I see. Uh. The single outdated arcade machine."

"Oh, that's not actually outdated," Callie chimed, showing off her new knowledge of the place. "It's just a style choice. But I don't know why they would use that big of a cabinet."

Yup, Callie was exactly the same as well. At least, when she wasn't thinking about those Hypno-Shades. Simon shuddered, thinking about it himself. That was something they had in common, but it wasn't a good thing.

"...Got it," he said. His eyes met an extremely obvious grate in the corner of the square. It might as well be labeled "Important!" with how much it stuck out. "So is the manhole the new entrance?"

"How'd you figure that's one out?" Marie said sarcastically. She lifted her arms to stretch, interlocking her fingers. "Miracle nobody's broken in yet. Has the captain told you Octo Valley was retaken?"

"Countless times. He kept blabbering on about a 'cozy wooden cabin' while I was out in the field monitoring them." He started farther, behind the manhole, curiously peering at the building with its door closed off. "Anyway, that's new. What's that?"

Callie looked with him, subconsciously mimicking him and squinting as well. "Grizzco," she said harshly. Simon took a step back. "But it looks like they're closed. Wanna see?"

* * *

A series of beats and record scratches played from the speakers hanging from Deca Tower. Colors flew across the screen in between them, and then they faded and slid away, revealing a pair of girls on opposite sides of another screen inside.

"Oh, hey, news... is up," Rose noticed, confused. She checked the time on her phone. "But it's not... eh, whatever. You good, Morgan?" She looked over her shoulder, careful not to make eye contact.

Which would've been difficult when she was staring at the pavement.

"Mm," Morgan hummed drearily. She was sitting, pressing her knees to her chest. She was wearing some of Rose's clothing, a spare set she happened to have kept in the cabin. They fit her, luckily. Rose looked at her worriedly. Morgan was never like this before.

The Morgan she knew was always the shy type, but she always opened up around her. She was pretty smart, she thought, but her personality held her back sometimes.

And now...

"Y'all know what time it is!" shouted a short, angry-looking Inkling with pink-tipped hair.

"That's Pearl..." Rose muttered to Morgan. "Tall one with the headphones is Marina."

Marina was always an enigma to Rose. As far as she knew, Marina was the only Octoling on the surface. She knew that something about the Inkantation inspired them to defect, but how come she was the only one to actually make it to the surface?

"Pearl, drop it," Marina demanded. She was grave, unlike her usual self. When she was live, she was never like that.

Rose shifted to get a better angle. Immediately, she saw several things that were off. First of all, Marina was not smiling and Pearl looked very confused. The turntable was gone, and the screen inside the screen was off.

Pearl almost stood up. "B-But... wait, did something happen? Nobody told me a thing..."

Without pausing to look at Pearl, Marina continued. "Thirty-one people reported to be missing have been found near Angler Avenue. The suspects appear to be a..." She clenched her teeth. "A group of strange-looking individuals wearing sunglasses."

Pearl looked on in... something resembling horror.

Marina grimaced, reading off of a paper in her hand. "According to reports, three vigilantes rescued the missing people..." She stopped for a moment to take a deep breath.

Script. They were on a script. Why? They were never-

"I'm getting my pay docked for this, but saying this for these people, I'm sor-"

The screen cut to black before she could finish.

 _Of course,_ Rose thought, _she's an Octoling, too._

It must be hard for her. Watching everything from afar when she just ran away. Rose wasn't like that. She didn't run away unless it was a strategic retreat.

The screen faded back into the automatic cycle of advertisements. It was as if nothing happened, according to the tower. Usually, the square was filled with the chatter of idle conversations, but then, it was silent, save the music blasting from the lobby.

"Did you get that?" Rose quietly asked Morgan. She shifted back, closer to her.

"No," she said through the fabric of her clothes. She was still pressing her knees on her chest, tired-looking and sad.

Suddenly, Rose thought it was better that she didn't hear any of that. She desperately tried to think of another conversation starter. She couldn't just leave Morgan like that.

"Sorry," she muttered. "For moving away." Rose looked away, about half a meter to her left to avoid eye contact.

"That was your parents," Morgan said, lifting her head. "I don't blame you for that."

"It was sixth year of school I left for Deep Jersey, I was old enough, I could have said something."

Morgan finally let go of her legs, exposing her face. "This is Sharktown we're talking about, did you really want to stay there until ninth year?"

"My parents didn't, apparently."

"You clearly don't know the financial situation of an average family in Sharktown. Come on, even I know that," Morgan said casually, brushing her hair back. "And I'm the orphan here..." she muttered.

On instinct, Rose made eye contact. Morgan flinched in place and clenched her eyes shut.

 _Dang it..._

"Sorry..." Rose mumbled.

 _Get off the orphan topic, get off the orphan topic..._

"Why do you think your brother forgot you?"

 _NO NOT THAT_

Morgan paused. She looked down at the pavement, even though there was nothing there. "It's been a while."

That was a vague answer. Pressing for more details would be risky, but Rose already dove in and wouldn't back off now. "What's his name?" She was sure she'd heard it before, but it wasn't coming to mind.

Morgan sighed. She gently shut her eyes, appearing quietly reminiscent.

When she said the name, Rose looked up. Her jaw dropped lightly. Morgan saw her, saw that something clicked in her mind. She said the name again, whispered it to herself. Morgan went back to looking down.

She really should've felt better about being on the surface again. What's more, she was reunited with a childhood friend. But she didn't seem to feel anything. Like it was a dream, a lucid dream, and the littlest poke would make her wake up, back in the cell for another day.

Another part of her knew that it wasn't true, she was on the surface, Rose was right there, this was Inkopolis.

The next time Morgan looked up, Rose was whispering into a small, rectangular item in her hand. She could only make out a few words. "Two... Three." That was all.

Did this have something to do with whatever she was doing with those other two? It looked to her like Rose was leading a double life. Which was possible, considering the time they'd spent apart.

Morgan looked past Rose, at the wide span of Inkopolis Plaza. She gasped. How long had it been since she could see this far? See anything farther than the opposite wall of the hallway? How long had it been since she could see the sky?

Too long.

Three people, all dressed in hoodies, were standing next to Grizzco. One of them was holding a similar rectangular item. No, it wasn't just similar, it was exactly the same thing. An exact copy.

In unison, all three turned and started to approach. They were about fifteen meters away, then ten, then five, the range that-

Morgan grabbed hold of her legs again and pressed them to her chest.

 _This again,_ she thought, _again, no, not again..._

Rose stuffed the communicator back into her pocket. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, with a hint of worry.

The sound of her voice was soothing, but not soothing enough. Morgan turned to the side, ready for something to happen.

"Uh, hey, Rose," one of the three said. "Who's your friend?"

Morgan heard the voice, and knew it was that of a girl. She sounded young.

Out of the corner of he eye, Morgan saw Rose take one last glance at her, then turn in her seat, facing the new stranger. "Eh, someone I knew 'till I hit sixth year. My family lived in Sharktown until I was ten. Then we moved to Deep Jersey. Then I moved out and came here, eventually. Her name's-"

"Hold it," interrupted another one. That voice. Even more weirdly soothing than Rose's.

Morgan faced away, trying her hardest to stop herself from looking at any of them. Getting away didn't even come to mind, that was hopeless, it was always hopeless.

She felt a hand, light as a feather, placed on her shoulder. Then another hand on top of that one. She flinched, then shut her eyes, leaning her head towards the hands. Yes... that wasn't just a random gesture to her. That was a signal, more deeply ingrained in her mind than the horrors of direct eye contact.

She was always quite the introvert, and didn't have many friends other than Rose. What could she do now, now that she couldn't even look someone in the eye without breaking down?

No. That wasn't her concern anymore. She didn't have any concerns in that moment, she could deal with them later. Right now, she could just rest.

"Where have you been?" he said. Simon Parette. Her brother. "I sent you that letter a year ago."

It must've been embarrassing, Morgan thought, to have two Inklings she didn't know and her best friend watching while this was happening. And yet she answered anyway. "Underground..." she said, and she didn't have a problem with saying it. "With so many others."

Simon left the moment in silence. As silent as the middle of Inkopolis Square could be. Then he spoke up again. "Come with me. We'll get a place... somewhere."

And with that, he pulled Morgan out of the chair, and they walked away together, not even bothering to address the rest of the team.

* * *

Marie shut the door behind her. She blinked twice, still trying to process that encounter.

Their apartment suddenly felt a lot more empty now that Simon was gone. Gone for... wherever he was going.

Callie inhaled, paused for a moment, then yelled, "They're related!?" only to be hushed by Marie a moment later. In a single sentence, she summed up what Marie as thinking.

"Y-yes, it seems so," she said, pulling weakly on Callie's arm. "He never told us he had a sister."

"Yes, but," Callie took another's deep breath. "Octrope took her. And he didn't know he did."

"Your point?"

"He'll want to go after Octrope," she determined. She pulled something out of her pocket, something that resembled a flashlight. "This is... this is the Inkwhip, right? He had this in his hand after we knocked him out."

"And?" Marie asked darkly. Already, she was beginning to feel a hatred towards that thing.

"Think we could use this? Just change the color, and-"

Marie held her hands up. She just switched topics in a flash. "Okay, hold on. _Why's_ he going to chase Akash, first of all?" She pulled the sunglasses off of her face and tossed them aside, not caring where they landed. They were pretty sturdy.

"They took his sister, didn't you hear him? He was pissed!" Callie snapped. "I don't know what you're doing, but whatever he does, I'm going with him."

"We're on the same team, here, of course I'm with you. And him. And Rose, too, probably."

Callie stopped in place. She gently turned around and pushed her hand against the wall.

 _I didn't want to get this involved with Akash. I just wanted to rescue Simon, and then we'd all be back._

What was she doing, getting this stressed over him? It had to have been worse for Marie, who spent a whole eight months with Callie gone.

"I'm sorry," Callie whispered under her breath. "I'm... kinda worried about how this might turn out. Remember Octavio? He said Akash hated us. He'll cross lines Octavio never did."

"Mm..." Maire hummed in agreement. "I think... I think we both knew we'd go after him anyway."

A breeze wafted in through the open window, carrying the sound of a future yet to come.

* * *

"They're related..." Rose whispered to herself.

What was it with her apartment? Why did it feel so much more dark and intimidating?

No, it wasn't the apartment, it was the atmosphere. The atmosphere of her mind. Of course she'd feel off after finding out her old best friend was trapped underground for... what? Half a year? A whole one?

She never should've let her family take her out of Sharktown in year six. She'd keep being friends with Morgan, then they could move to Inkopolis together, and then Morgan would never have to be trapped-

 _Stop. Stop fantasizing,_ she told herself. _That's done._

What was more important was how she'd get back at them for doing that to Morgan. She had to hit them where it hurt. And right then, it was Grizzco. Somehow shutting that place down would cut off their power supply, then they could _really_ attack.

Wait... has the NSS ever been on the offensive? Everything Two told her they did was either in retaliation or in defense. Never did she hear about them initiating an attack.

But anyway. They were related. Agetn3 and Morgan. Morgan was usually quiet when it came to her only family.

"Simon," she whispered to herself. Agent 3, Simon, and Morgan's brother, all in one person. What a coincidence.

Okay. Now what? Do they go after Akash, or-

Her phone rang, breaking her train of thought. "Ugh," she muttered. Who'd be calling her now? One of the Squid Sisters? No, they literally lived right next to her.

Rose pulled the phone out of her pocket and threw it to her other hand.

"Mom..."

* * *

 **Hey, here's the fiftieth note about a possible lack of chapter next week and apology.**


	21. Planning Ahead

**#21**

 **There are a lot of small details I changed here. That's all, really. That, and just making it better.**

* * *

Rose imagined a roulette wheel, automatically going off right when she saw the name she had saved on the phone. "Mom," it read.

What now? There were three possible reasons for this random call out of nowhere. One, she finally found the Squiffer in Rose's closet from years ago, two, she heard of something happening in Inkopolis, or three, she just looked at that one picture of three-year-old Rose again.

Rose guessed it was the second option. News about a bunch of captives being set free would spread like wildfire. But even more quickly than that.

She swiped the screen — she had an older model — and held the device to her ear. "Hey," she said. She went to the armchair and fell into it. "The captives, I assume?"

"How did- Yes, the captives." As expected, her mother was unreasonably distressed. She would be reasonably distressed if she knew Rose was in the NSS, but now, she had no clue. So it was unreasonable.

"Chill, I'm fine," Rose mumbled. "Y-yeah, nothing happened. To me."

 _No, my voice..._

She could make whatever facial expression she wanted, since her mother couldn't see her. But her voice? That was harder to mask.

"I-I know," her mother stuttered. Yep, she heard it. "I just talked to you last week."

"Yeah..."

She paused for a moment, probably preparing to say something. "The reason I called was... something else. A group of vigilantes were... said to have rescued them."

Rose clenched her teeth. Two told them to keep quiet about it!

Though, it really was inevitable that at least one of the thirty-two wouldn't keep their mouth shut. Rose placed the communicator next to her leg, just to remind herself to contact the rest of the team about this later.

Her mother took a ragged breath. "One of them looks like you."

...Oh. She didn't think of that part. They had to have described her and the others to, like, a police artist or something. So, then...!

"Alright," Rose said, straining to keep her voice from revealing she was panicking. "Yeah, that was me. Don't freak out, okay? I... uh... have a story to tell. Get Dad, he needs to hear this, too."

* * *

"Here," Simon said solemnly. He made sure to swing the door open and keep Morgan behind him. He was doing his best to avoid anything similar to the... Lab, that's what they called it?

"Mm," Morgan hummed drearily. She stepped inside after him and clung to his arm, like a cat wanting affection. Except affection was the last thing on her mind.

"Pick a room," he offered. He took the moment to survey the place.

Their new apartment, he saw, was similar in structure to that Callie and Marie. To the left, a short hallway led to two separate rooms, and the right was everything else. It made sense, considering how his and Morgan's apartment was right on top of theirs. Same building and everything. It was the most convenient place.

The curtains were drawn, and the lights were off. Simon found the nearest light switch and flipped it. Half of the lights flickered on. The door swung shut behind them, and the vacuum from the outside was muffled, plunging the room into silence.

"I'll... take that one," Morgan droned, weakly pointing to another room. He hoped that was because of tiredness rather than... the alternative. He looked down, worried.

Another door shut, but this time, it was the room's. He looked back up, and Morgan was gone.

He was left, standing next to light switch, in some odd limbo. It felt strange. The surface. Months underground, and then suddenly thrown back up. Simon sighed, in something between solemnity and boredom.

Their apartment, the new one, came unfurnished. The only things there were the window and the carpet. That meant their rooms were empty, too. Morgan would have to deal with the floor for now.

The old place Simon had was in the other side of Inkopolis, in a now-abandoned building. It was on the street near the Lab, so he guessed everyone was just gone now. That didn't matter too much. All of them either moved away or were recently rescued.

He leaned against the wall, a blank expression on his face, and slid to the floor. He rated back up to turn the lights back off. A sliver of sunlight hit his face, just under his eyes, curving at his nose and passing to the wall behind him.

He blinked, twice, and the light was still there. It was it made some kind of twisted sense, he thought, that this light was here. He couldn't see any natural light from the sun underground. And now that he was above ground, he was intentionally depriving himself of it. He was still trapped underground. But this was a more... figurative way to interpret it. Ever since that incident six months ago, in that subway...

There was no light. Except for this sliver, this line. That was better than nothing.

He sat there, unmoving, for an amount of time. It was like the clock sped up, not that there was a clock anywhere nearby to begin with.

And then something made a soft _click_ inside his pocket.

Was that the new communicator? Marie gave it to him earlier, right before he left their place. He stuffed it into his pocket without a second thought then, because the NSS was for later.

But, he supposed, now is later.

"Hey, is this thing working?" asked a high-toned voice. She had a little bit of an accent, with the way she spoke. He was unfamiliar with the voice, so he assumed it was the new girl. Agent 4.

Simon chose to leave the communicator in his pocket. He could hear it just fine.

"You're good, Four," said someone else. Marie. Or, rather, Agent 2. Two, most of the time.

"Yeah, so," Four continued, "we're like... on the news." She sounded timid as she said that, like she was afraid to say it.

Someone groaned. Callie, or Agent 1, or One. "Already? It's been, like, two hours tops."

"And how often do people hear about random strangers breaking in to... whatever that was, and coming out with thirty more?" Classic Two. She was always condescending. But just on the outside.

"...Alright," sighed Four. "Anyway, I have problem number two, if you want to hear it?" Again with the timidness.

"Not here," interrupted Two. She was acting very leader-like. Perhaps she developed that skill when the actual captain was gone. "Or, no. We're not the same place. Let's meet up somewhere. Here?"

"Fine..." said Four. "I just got comfortable, though..."

The communicator clicked again, enveloping the room in a silent blanket once more.

They weren't expecting Simon, were they? They just broke him out, and he didn't say a word during that conversation. But expectations weren't always reality, and he had a reason to be there.

One and Two were right below him, right? It wouldn't take long to get there. Maybe he'd make it before Four. Except, he didn't know where she lived, so...

He stood up, not making a sound. It looked like it got darker, with the sliver of sunlight ceasing to hit his face. He took seven steps to the door Morgan went into, and lightly tapped the door with his knuckles. "I'm heading out for a bit," he said lightly.

No response.

Sighing under his breath, he went back to the door leading outside.

* * *

Was that okay? Was she allowed to just... _tell_ someone about her secret life? Two someones, even? There had to be a special rule here, since her parents were... uh, her parents?

 _Because of course that's what's worrying me,_ Rose thought.

Telling the "I'm a vigilante!" story was the worrying part. Not the whole thing about the giant fish that her father told her about after. The one supposedly right next to the Salmonid territory, the Restricted Zone. At least her parents took it well.

The Squid Sisters' door was already propped open by the time she made it there. She took that as an invitation to walk in. "Made it. I guess," she said, pushing the door open with her shoulder.

"And problem number two is...?" Marie urged. She was already sitting, hands folded, at the same table as last time.

"Alright, how do I explain this," Rose said, hopping into another nearby chair. "So, like, near the Restricted Zone, there's like, this whole area the boat people agree to avoid." She paused.

"Go on..."

"And, like, recently, there's been a few sightings of a giant fish thingy? Alright, so... the whole thing is metal, like, creepily similar to the Eagle or whatever. But, y'know, it's a fish. Uh. Except it's the size of the Eagle. Maybe bigger."

"And you know this how?" Callie asked, twirling a flashlight in her hand. "It sounds like you heard this recently."

Rose slouched. "My dad's a sailor, duh. I told you this already."

"You can't expect me to remember that," Callie complained. "I'm not Sheldon..."

"Restricted Zone, right?" Marie said again. "That's the part of the ocean Grizzco operates on?"

Rose nodded lightly, confirming the question. "But the fish's right outside it, not in."

"Still, my point still stands," continued Marie. She stopped for a moment, hand on her cheek. "We raid again tomorrow," she decided. "We'll send someone else. A spy. It can't be one of us."

"Or Three," Callie mumbled. "They'd recognize him."

"Yeah," Marie said. She stretched her arms out, yawning silently.

A moment passed.

Rose slapped the table. "Sid," she offered. "Can't think of anyone else."

"Wha-" Marie started immediately. "But he's..."

"Who else are we gonna send, Sheldon?" Callie joked. She dropped the flashlight, letting it slide into her pocket, and crossed her arms. "NSS members are out for this mission."

"...Fine," Marie conceded. She noticed everyone was staring at her.

 _So this is what I've done to myself,_ she thought.

 _I'm the de facto leader, now._

Continuing, she said, "...We'll have to find him, first. Knowing him, he's at the square buying some shoes or something."

"Alright, then." A grin spread across Rose's face. "Race you there!" she yelled, shooting out of her seat.

And then a knock was heard from the door.

They froze without a second thought. Rose looked behind her, only to see Marie with her hand on her Charger and Callie with her hand in her pocket... for some reason.

"No, guys, calm down, it's just me." Simon poked his head through the doorway. "You don't have to quiet down." He looked around, raising an eyebrow at the suddenly tense environment. "So, are you going, or no?"

* * *

 **Yeah, yeah, I know, Simon seems a lot different, but don't worry, that only because the only dynamic I've been able to explore is with Morgan. When he gets back to everyone else, he'll be back to normal.**


	22. Temporary Member

**#22**

* * *

"Ah, the shoe store," proclaimed Marie. "The only one remotely close to here. Fills that niche nicely." She shuffled through the door. "This place smells weird..."

Callie stood behind her and to the left, doing her best to look like a menacing bodyguard. Which was difficult when wearing shades in a dim environment.

Bisk, the yellow, six-legged shopkeeper, paid them no mind. He was frothing at the mouth, like he always did, and standing in the middle of the floor for some reason.

All of the shopkeepers did that. Even Sheldon. Was there a secret code shared between these guys?

"Found him," Callie whispered. "Behind that shelf." She passed Marie, and made a wide circle around Bisk, skirting the edges of the store. He creeped her out.

Marie followed quickly, and did not take the same path, instead choosing to just cut right through the floor. Bisk did not react.

Sid, she found, was boredly browsing the shoes that were definitely not his size. He shut his eyes for a moment, resting them. The lighting in this place made it hard to look at anything,

"Hey, Sid!" Callie called, completely negating her whisper from earlier. He flinched, and turned to look at her, dropping one pair of shoes to the floor.

She slid her sunglasses down and, in the process, cast a shadow over her face. "Hurry up, there's something you need to do."

"Guh-" Sid tripped over nothing and fell backwards, landing on his back. That face... it was the same one he saw last time. His own twisted into a scowl. "What is it?" he choked out.

"Grizzco," Marie said from behind her. "We need you to find something about Grizzco."

"Y-yeah, okay, okay," he stammered as he scrambled to stand back up.

"Whoa, that was easy." As Callie's face tilted back up, the shadow left. "You sure? We haven't told you everything yet." Suddenly, she had an apologetic tone. "Come on, we'll get you caught up."

* * *

Simon stood, against the white wall in the square's corner, basking in the sunlight. No, basking wasn't the right word. Lounging was.

He wasn't too familiar with Inkopolis Square yet. It was too rectangular, especially when compared to the round plaza from two years ago. And the weirdest part was that everything was on a road, with Deca Tower planted right in the middle of it. There weren't any cars there, there was some kind of roadwork happening to his right.

Which begged the question, what would happen when that roadwork was complete? Would people just drive into Deca Tower?

Hmm. Speaking of driving, did Callie get a license yet? Last time he saw her, she didn't.

Wait, where _was_ she?

She shouldn't be alone! Four just rescued her!

N-no, but Marie was with her, she's fine...

Simon shot his head up, and nope, he couldn't see either of them. Callie or Marie. They still used the Lie and Rie public codenames, right?

They must be looking for that one guy. Sid, they called him. Simon didn't really know him well enough to actually look for him. Was it really okay to send an outsider?

The only one he could see that he could... somewhat recognize was the new girl, Rose. All of her naturally pink hair was combed to one side, pairing well with her purple eyes. Something about her looked unnaturally young. Was it the height, the tired expression of someone in school, or the precise yet clumsy-looking movements?

And, oddly, she had a bag slung over her shoulder.

The reason he could see any of this so well was because she was standing right next to him. Not too uncomfortably close, though. Just close enough for an outsider to tell they were acquaintances, which they weren't.

"Did you lose them?" she asked, grinning. She turned her head to face him, and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I don't think they can see us, either."

That was the face and tone of someone insinuating something. Either she was too readable, or she wasn't trying to mask her expression. "Are you insinuating something?" He said blankly, putting his thoughts into words.

Her smile dropped, and she looked away. "I-I don't really know what that means... but maybe? Uh, I mean." She slouched forward in exasperation. "I was gonna ask you to head to the tower with me. I wanted to see if you're as good as they say you are."

He couldn't help but smile after hearing that.

 _That's_ what those two have been saying about him?

"I brought a Splattershot," Rose blurted, producing an oversized squirt gun from the bag. "They said you usually used these."

"They were right, in that aspect," Simon sighed. "Yeah, I'll go. Don't have much better to do."

* * *

There were many lobbies in the basement of Deca Tower. Rose just picked one with two empty slots and stood outside of it, waiting.

As soon as the elevator opened, she looked over. Simon stepped out. "New account, huh?" she said, playfully smirking.

"I lost my old card," he admitted. Understandable, considering his current situation. Slouching, he went to her.

Ironically, all of the matchmaking was done in the basement of Deca Tower, because everything else other than the ground floor was hollow.

Rose spun around and used her free hand to swipe her own card. The lobby's door opened, and she pushed her way in. Tossing one of her Dualies to her other hand, she spun them around on her fingers.

In stark contrast, Simon simply walked in, took three steps to the opposite wall, turned around, and stopped. "Are we ready?" he said, stretching his arms.

"Aw, two newbies?!" somebody complained. A tall, feisty Inkling wearing a hoodie was looking at the screen in the corner. It was displaying their levels, the method used to determine how long they've been playing this sport. He dropped his weapon. It clattered when it hit the floor.

Rose was, if nothing else, offended. She _was only_ level fifteen, according to the tower, but that was only because she spent more time in Octo Canyon.

And Simon was only level one, but that was only because he lost his card!

"Hold on, we're not-"

"Don't worry about it, Rose," Simon interjected. "Let's just show 'em."

Rose growled under her breath. "Fine..."

"You better not hold me back..." said the one in the hoodie.

The lock outside the door clicked again, prompting someone else to walk in.

On the floor, a grey, discolored circle opened up like a camera lens. Rose stormed to it first and dove in before anyone else even started.

She landed in a dimly lit tunnel, shaped like the inside of a cylinder. The walls were covered in a thin coat of neutral, transparent ink. Across the ceiling, a strip of purple passed through, leading to the destination.

 _I'll have to change my color,_ Rose thought. _Dang it..._

Her least favorite part of this process was always the color change. It didn't hurt or anything, it was just uncomfortably invasive for a liquid. Ugh.

She took to swimming down the curves and twists of the tunnel. She could hear the others swimming behind her, and hoped that the next one back was Simon and not that third guy. She was, by no means, a "newbie." Rose closed her eyes, letting the curvature of the tunnel dictate when she should turn.

Octarians always operated underground. Were these tunnels why they always popped up in battle stages rather than literally anywhere else? Huh, interesting thought. She might need to get that one to Marie sometime.

After a while, the tunnel began to rise, giving way to an upward slope. Rose stopped and looked in front of her. The tunnel seemed to stop right there, with a purple wall seeming to block her from moving any more. She took a breath, bracing herself, and plunged through the wall.

The liquid that, for some reason, didn't flow had the viscosity of honey and the coldness of ice. Rose shut her eyes as the fluid enveloped her body. The coolness felt like it was coming from inside her.

For a moment, she felt herself become one with the liquid, as it invaded the surface of her skin. And, as quickly as it entered, it left, painlessly pulling away that thin layer of skin.

She broke the surface, dripping purple on the respawn point. Whatever that was, it wasn't ink. She flicked her arms, still holding the Dualies, and several blobs of purple liquid flew from them and splattered on the platform.

She checked her hair, and sure enough, it was all purple. It didn't suit her well, even though it matched her eyes. She dismissed the thought. And then she looked at the stage.

The Reef, which was, in her opinion, the most uncreative stage name, was displaying itself before her. Shops made its border, and the bridge passed over its center.

This one didn't stand out much among stages. She preferred the more quirky ones, like Piranha Pit with the conveyor belts.

Simon hopped up behind her, taking another place on the pad. His hair was also changed, but his was from blue to purple. "Ah, good. I never saw this one two years ago. Always like a new one."

"Mm," Rose hummed.

"I've been meaning to ask, when did you join? NSS, I mean."

Rose checked around her. Nobody else was around.

Of course they weren't, Simon wouldn't have asked if they were. They were probably still in that color liquid. "Like, a week or two ago. Was the only criteria always just 'the ability to go down a manhole' or was that just Marie?"

"Hell if I know," Simon shrugged. "There're only four of us. Get ready, fifteen seconds left."

"Yeah." Rose faced forward just as someone else took another place on the pad. It didn't matter to her who it was anymore. The upcoming Turf War was first and foremost on her mind.

She closed her eyes, and waited for the clap that signaled the start.

* * *

Every ten minutes, the big screen decorating Deca Tower broadcasted a random match. This one happened to have both Simon and Rose in it.

"Good thing Sid was still on board," Marie sighed.

Callie, completely ignoring that, went back to watching the screen, "He's still got it!" she gushed. "I was worried he got stale underground!"

"Nah." Marie waved her hand, dismissing the notion. "Not him."

"Rose is doing well, too," Marie added, "never mind the fact that they ditched us."

Callie leaned back to get a better view. "Ooh, did you see that? They just shot a bomb out of the air!"

"Nice!" Marie laughed. "I made a good call with Rose. She works well with him..."

"One minute left..." Callie jumped up. "Let's go join 'em for the next one!"

* * *

 **The new part here was an actual explanation of the ink color change and oh my it was so much more detailed this time.**

 **Mainly because I didn't have one last time. Yippee.**


	23. Info Boy

**#23**

 ***slides this one in confidently like I had it finished on time***

 **Apologies, fellas, this one took a while. Changed a lot here, and all of it is to make everything in the future less jarring when I get to it.**

* * *

Dodge-rolling was a technique Rose had quickly mastered. In part because of her natural talent, and also because of her quick grasp of the concept.

The bottom of the Dualies fired off highly pressurized ink when she hit a different trigger with her thumbs. Depending on how she tilted them, she could move in any direction that wasn't into the ground. Combine that with a well-timed leap to the side, and the flip practically performed itself. But doing it more than twice in a row with a normal type was illegal. Actually, it was impossible because of a built in control lock to prevent any overheating issues. But the mobility, she knew, was still reliable. At least for her, it was.

That mobility gave rise to several more options, and since Rose was a quick thinker, she fit the Dualies class very well.

Wahoo World was one of her more liked stages, if only for the spinning donut in the lower level and the retracting pathways. The battlefield evolved over time, thats why she liked it.

Rose tilted her Dualies forwards and flicked the secondary triggers. Leaning forward herself, she flipped directly into the raised ground in the center, ignoring the loud spray from the weapons' bottoms. She noticed Simon, who was flanking them and cutting them off from their base, and was impressed. She didn't notice him get that far back.

In one swift motion, Rose hit the Dualies together, simultaneously clicking two tertiary triggers on the sides, and jumped.

She flew into the air, the weapons spinning and ejecting purple from all sides, covering her in a thick coat of ink. Somebody from the other team tried, desperately, to fire at her, but each shot bounced off with a rough _clink_.

Suddenly, he was splatted, as his intangible clump of DNA flew back to the enemy respawn point. Marie waved at Rose from the distance, nearer to their base.

One disadvantage of the Splashdown, Rose noted, was that she was temporarily blinded by the ink over her eyes. Except that was easily bypassed when she paid attention to her surroundings before the attack and acted quickly after it. Both of which she did anyway.

She pointed one fist to the ground, and with the other hand, gripped both Dualies.

And then she fell. No, more like plummeted, like she was fired out of an airborne cannon pointing at the battlefiend.

The moment her fist touched the ground, the coat fell away and concentrated on that one spot in a loosely-held ball that contorted and stretched at the end of her hand. It spun around, and then it seemed to crack open under the pressure, first blooming like a flower, then erupting into a twister of swirling color. All of this, in a moment.

Amidst the noise, Rose faintly heard a whistle. The match was over.

As the farthest from their point, she had to super jump. She shifted, and then moment later, was twenty meters in the air. A quick glance at the now static battlefield told her all that she wanted to know. Rose couldn't help but grin internally.

She landed on the respawn pad, but since it was now open, she just kept sinking through. The viscous liquid that changed her color earlier was gone, since it didn't need to be there anymore.

Why was the color changing thing in the tunnel to Octo Canyon a lot less uncomfortable? It was usually set to lime green, but she always just swam though it like it was nothing.

Rose slid back through the tunnel, reflecting on the match. A dodge-roll usually took awhile to master, but it only took her a couple of tries before she figured it out.

Again, Rose closed her eyes and let the curving of the tunnels decide where she turned. There was only one pathway, anyway.

Dodge-rolls paired well with the Splashdown as a great approach and pressure tool. What she didn't entirely understand was the Splashdown itself. There was the ink coat, which protected her as the attack charged, she understood that.

But what caused everything else to happen? Th ball at formed under her fist, the one that cracked open and bloomed...

Was it... speed? If she just moved down faster, what would...

The tunnel started to curve upwards, and she followed it. As soon as she flopped out of the hole and stood back up, the camera lens spun closed again.

"That... worked," Simon remarked. He was looking at the screen in the corner, which showed the match results. They won by fifty percent. Way more than half of the battlefield was purple.

"I-it sure did." Callie tossed her now dry Roller into the couch, nearly hitting Marie in the process. She caught it before it hit her face. Rose went to her and fell face-first into the chair next to her.

Looking at Rose, Marie sighed in quiet triumph.

 _This was a good sign,_ she thought. _That team looked tough, too._ "Let's save our breath," she said lightly, dropping the Roller onto Rose. "If something happens at Grizzco tomorrow, we'll need to be ready."

* * *

Sid was, for all intents and purposes, a normal Inkling.

Years ago, at 13 years old, he managed to graduate school with an eleventh-year level of... pretty much everything, a year earlier than most. He got by working as a higher employee at the power plant, as well as doing the backstage work for the Squid Sisters occasionally. Now, though, after the Squid Sisters disappeared, it was just the power plant.

He enjoyed battling from the tower and was a slightly better than average player. But nobody could tell any of that by just looking at him. That, combined with his connection to Callie and Marie, made him the perfect candidate to walk into Grizzco.

What did they say, yesterday, when they asked him to do this? "Grizzco's evil" was the sum of it. Something about collecting those eggs for something energy-related. And so they asked him to simply walk inside, walk back out, and tell them what he saw.

He checked his pocket. Good. That device Marie gave him was there. He pulled it out, and there was a 2 dimly shining in the center of the screen, which meant he was in an... audio communication with the second member of the... team. Couldn't they just call it a phone call?

Grizzco's door — which was just some thick metal bars — slowly slid open. Nobody was doing that, as far as he could tell. It must've been automatic.

This would be the fourth time he was to enter than building. Each of the three other times was when he was just _that_ bored. It was something to do, and in his defense, he had no idea the place was evil.

"Door open yet?" said a voice from his pocket. It sounded like Callie.

He shifted his weight to his other leg. It was uncomfortable, just having a voice in his pants. Four of them, actually. They all seemed to be gathered around the second one's device. "Yeah," he mumbled.

They also warned him to not use anything that sounded remotely like their names. As for why, he didn't know yet. All he knew was that they were somewhere, far off, outside of the city. Some canyon somewhere. That, and there was danger involved. Because whoever was at Grizzco was looking for them. And Callie and Marie didn't know what would happen to him if they found him out.

But it couldn't be that bad, right? It couldn't be worse than just... a regular Salmon Run? It wasn't like he had anything else to do.

Sometimes, he astonished himself with how small things like this were to him. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and approached the building.

As soon as his foot touched the floor inside, the wooden bear shook. "Right on time, kid," it said, the same way it did the last two times he went in. "I've got a job for ya."

One more thing that the Squid Sisters told him was that the voice of Mr. Grizz belonged to somebody named Octrope. But wasn't this a automatic audio system? How else...

"H-hey," Sid murmured. There was still a chance of someone watching, or maybe also listening, to him. So he had to act natural. "I-"

The bear emitted a static-noise. "Signal found," said a different, feminine voice. She had an accent. "You're with them, aren't you? Ugh. Jack, Rocky, head out."

Sid jumped back. The gate was closed, they must've closed it when he wasn't looking. He couldn't slip out, the bars were too thick, even for a squid. "W-wait, hold on, what'd I-"

"That thing, in your pocket," she interjected. Her tone was as if she was just dismissing his presence. "Don't fool with me."

The gate wouldn't budge, it was too tightly held. No way out, and only time to buy. They have to be after him now, so if he stalled for time...

He steeled himself and stepped back forward. If he played dumb, they might give him a few more precious seconds. "That's my phone, what do you mean? Who are you, what happened to Mr. Grizz?"

"Frankly, I find it hard to believe that those three... no, actually four now. I don't think they tapped a random citizen's phone." She sighed, and it audibly passed through the radio. "How would they know you have any Salmo Run history? And me? Eileen, but that doesn't really matter, does it? Even if you _do_ get out, there's not much you can do with this info."

Things got really serious really quickly. So this was the danger they were talking about. This Eileen person... she just sent two people after him.

Rocky and Jack, she said. "Can't I just work the shift!?" He half yelled, half asked. "I need the money!" That was a lie, he had no financial concerns.

"Let me tell you a story," said Eileen, after a moment passed. "I have to stay here until those two reach you, and there's not much else I can do."

Was she taking him as a trivial matter? Not even a remote threat? This was too casual! People don't just... tell stories to people they're fighting!

"A girl was the eldest of four siblings." A faint creak sounded through the radio, as of that of an old office chair leaning back. "She had two brothers. And the youngest, a sister named Annie."

Sid's eyes darted across the damp room. Where would they come from? The entrance, the doorway to the boats?

"Sometimes, she felt tired, having to calm down three others, but they were very... close."

Or was there another entrance he didn't know about? With the amount of stuff cluttered in the room, there could easily be a secret entrance anywhere!

"The girl and her siblings lived underground. You don't know much about this, but all they wanted was to live above ground, like everyone else. But a group of bad people kept them from going up there."

Come, on, Callie, Marie, whoever the others were... The gate still wouldn't move, no matter how hard he pulled.

"And so their father trained them to fight, so they could one day defeat the bad group. One day, earlier this year, the youngest... went missing."

He breathed in, then out. Panicking would be deadly in this situation. That would just tell them he knew what they were after him for.

Eileen paused. She breathed into the microphone from wherever she was. "..Nobody has seen her since. Th-that's it. Huh, not much of a... story."

And in those last sentences, Sid saw his opportunity.

He sighed in pity, if only to keep up an act. "You've been waiting to tell someone that, right?"

Eileen kept in silence. Only the static rung through.

"That was you? You lost your sister?" Advice or comfort, which one should he pick? "I send my condolences, if that's the case. I remember when my grandmother-"

"She's not dead!" Eileen snapped. He could hear her slam her first on whatever table was nearby. "Don't tell me she isn't! She's just missing, and it's because of you! All of you!"

Sid's breathing quickened. He hit a sensitive spot, that wasn't good. He glanced at the door again, but there was nobody outside. Nobody even looking in Grizzco's direction. Callie, Marie, where were they?

He still didn't know what he was in... but he was determined to see it through. If this was to help protect Inkopolis, his family, his coworkers at the power plant, his friends from the tower, then he was ready to fight.

"They're there..." Eileen droned. And, from farther away, a quieter sound. "Rocky, Jack... you know what do do. Capture, don't harm."

The panel of screens at the back of the room slid into the floor. Behind it, two shadowy figures stood.

* * *

 **Yep, Eileen's getting introduced way earlier this time.**

 **In the old version, this next arc is actually my least favorite, so I decided to spice it up with some foreshadowing.**


	24. Inside Grizzco, Part 1

**#24**

* * *

Tentakeel Outpost appeared peaceful. The only noise was found in the nearly inaudible breeze, and the only movement, in the swaying of the only tree's branches. Not even the Eagle, which was standing right there, was making a sound.

Ironic contrast to the situation the NSS was in.

Raiding Grizzco directly wasn't part of their plan, but things had changed. A lot. The four were around Two's communicator, intently listening for the slightest clue as to where they were taking Sid.

Two subtly gestured to the manhole. She tapped the screen near the edge, which cancelled the communication with no audible signal. "We're good to talk now. Plan?"

"Why don't we get there first?" Three said, more aggressively than he intended. "Can't do much if we can't see anything."

"They have backup, definitely," One guessed. She stood up. "We can't go in guns blazing."

Kneeling on the ground, Four raised her hand lightly. "Agreed with Three. Speed is key here. I'm going!" With that, she turned away and dove in the manhole.

"No, Four!" Two called, chasing after her.

Three sighed, and lightly smiled. "First one back," he said to himself, as he walked away.

 _I missed this._

A part of him felt relieved that he was back, but another one felt a little unconfident. Months without practice wouldn't do him well.

And a mission with One and Two! And a new member! Those didn't happen often, but they were always a bit more enjoyable than the solo missions with the captain talking his ear off.

"Uh, yeah, uh, Three?" said One, breaking his thoughts. She heaved into a kneeling position. "Are you sure?" she said, worried. "You just... got back, and..." she trailed off and left a short moment of silence in the air.

"I could say the same to you." Three turned to look offer his shoulder. "Are _you_ going?"

One dropped her arm. "O-of course I am-"

"Then so will I."

She looked at him, with his eyes sparkling in the perfect angle, and then looked away in embarrassment. "Oh! I just remembered," she said, changing the subject, "take this. This is... the last weapon we have." From her pocket, she removed a cylindrical object in the shape of a flashlight. "Or, maybe you don't-"

"No, no, it's fine," he broke in. "Shoot," he mumbled, "forgot the weapons. We lost almost all of them, didn't we?"

"You didn't... we did," One replied. She threw the Inkwhip over to him. "Yeah... Sorry about that..."

"It's fine, I never used most of them, anyway," he assured her, as he caught the Inkwhip midair. "We didn't even have anything other than the Hero Shot until Sheldon showed up. Man, I missed a lot." He held the weapon upside-down and turned it on. A green stream of lightly-toned ink quickly shot outwards, extending until it touched the ground. "Oh. The color's been changed. Thanks!" Three lifted the Inkwhip and flipped it around in his hand, so it faced upwards again. The whip itself, the stream, flopped back down.

"You're welcome..." One whispered, now entranced by the intricate movements of the Inkwhip.

He swung it upwards, then brought the base to his hip, then to the other one, then he passed it to his other hand and around himself. The sweeping motion formed a circle around his body, like a floating belt, but it lasted only a moment before it dropped back to the ground.

"Whoa..." One scrambled to stand. "Where'd you learn..." she couldn't finish her sentence before losing her train of thought.

Three opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. "I... I don't know. Was it from when I was brainwashed? Can that happen?" While speaking, he tested the weapon's safety by holding it above his hand. The stream touched his fingers, but didn't go through.

 _Sheldon's gonna love this,_ he thought. _It's just like a light. But nothing like a light at the same time._

"'Ey, lovebirds!" Cuttlefish shouted from across the island. "Better get out there before your friend rats you out!"

"Guh-" One blushed under for mouth covering. "Gramps!"

"He's right," Three said, only slightly fazed by that comment. "C'mon." He went off the manhole, took one last look at the new base, and dove in.

One walked over, crossed her arms in defiance, and sank through.

Now alone in the Outpost — No, not quite alone, Octavio was there, too — Captain Cuttlefish hobbled to the seat on the side of Cuttlefish Cabin. He dropped onto the cushion, and chucked quietly to himself.

* * *

Two kicked the door. It wouldn't budge. "Four, help me pull this open," she said, holding the end of the door.

"Yeah, got it," she said. Taking hold of one of the many holes in the door, she pulled it to the side, and, with Two's help, opened the gate until it was halfway to the other side. She could've sworn they broke something in the mechanism.

Four reached a hand into the ink tank behind her, and tossed an Autobomb inside. It hit the floor, righted itself, and exploded in place, leaving a small puddle. There were no enemies nearby.

"Huh," Two noted, "I didn't have to tell you to do that. Well done."

Four cautiously stepped inside, whirled her head around to look at everything a time once. "Save the praise for later." She outstretched one of her arms, holding her left Dualie, and fired twice at an area below the screens to the right of the room.

There was a fan, a blue one, lightly spinning in front of the panel. When Four's shots hit her target, the fan bounced back, spinning. The whole panel, including the screens, descended into the floor.

 _I raised that girl,_ Two thought with pride.

Behind the panel, there was a small carved room that ended in a concrete wall, and a hatch on the floor that presumably led underground.

"Second one of these in Inkopolis," Four said bitterly. "How many do they have?" Scowling, she stomped across the room and kicked the hatch open.

There was light inside, unlike the Lab. Also unlike the Lab, this wasn't a kettle. It was a regular, circle-shaped hatch. Bars of metal protruded from one side of the circular opening, acting as a ladder. Four dropped another Autobomb inside, then jumped in herself right as it was obvious it wouldn't move. She landed on a floor not too far from the surface. Two dropped in behind her once Four stepped forward and out of the way

"We have a problem," Two observed.

"I can see that," Four said. There were two paths they could take: one to the left, and another to the right. Both looked the same, with smooth stone walls, floor, and ceiling, along with evenly spaced, flickering lights above.

"Left," Four suggested, "get the other two to go right."

Two reached for her communicator in her zipped pocket, then hesitated. "Splitting up? Well... I guess that's all we can do." She brought the communicator to her face. "Go the other way," she said into it, then she placed it back in the pocket.

"Ready?" Four asked. Without waiting for a response, she slid a Curling Bomb across the floor and swam through the stream it left. She could hear Two following behind her after a little bit of a delay.

She did the same thing she did in the deepest part of the Lab, where she chained Curling Bombs to keep a swift path. They swam like that for a while, hitting no doors on the sides or changes in the structure.

Eventually, the thin hallway hit a corner, going left again. Four kept going, but as soon as she hit the corner, she leapt out of the ink and pointed both Dualies to her left. Then she turned.

There were two — no, three — no, more — Octolings ahead of her. It was hard to see exactly how many with how thin the hallway was.

 _Two's Charger would work here,_ she thought.

Knowing Two would understand, she spread her hands apart and fired at the walls, making curved pathways for her on both the left and right sides.

She picked the left one to dive into first, then slowed down to ruin any shot leading. A splatter of Ink hit the wall in front of her, then she kicked off the wall and dove into the other one. In the air, she kept firing downwards at the enemies, if only to distract them in the split second it took for Two to fire.

 _Six of them..._

At the end, she jumped out and tackled one into the floor. To her disadvantage, her feet got stuck in the purple ink. With her free hand, she pulled a Splat Bomb from her ink tank and used its size to block any extra shots.

Two's Charger fired.

Four shoved the bomb to the floor next to her, and a moment later, it exploded, clearing the back line and knocking her out of the purple floor.

And, just like before, it was quiet again. Two and Four dint feel a hint of exhaustion.

"Four, are you okay?" Two said, smirking. She knew her well enough to know that she was perfectly okay, but it felt like a necessity to mention that. "That gash on your arm looks like it hurts."

Four looked at her arm. "Oh, shoot, didn't notice that." She fired a few shots at the wound, and when the ink dropped off, the gash was gone. "Thanks."

"Not many people wouldn't notice that..." Two muttered, slouching. "No problem. Let's keep going."

"I think we made it, by the way," Four continued, pointing her thumb ahead. She moved her head aside to let Two see the stone staircase just a few more meters ahead.

* * *

"This... this is where I stole the Eagle," Two said. "Seadragon Wood... So Grizzco's connected to here..."

The staircase led to another hatch, but this one was more like a basement, with a trapdoor and a gradual descent. The metal trapdoor was hinged and attached to the ground, but it was now swung open and left like that for their inevitable return.

The worst part was that there was nobody there, as far as they could tell. The giant shed they used as a hangar for the Eagle didn't have any noises of hammering or whatever that Two heard last time, and everything else...

Everything else still looked as ancient as it was before. "Four, stay with me," she said. "I've been here before. Keep an eye open for Sid."

A quick peek into the hangar showed everything it had. Which was nothing, other than walls and a roof.

Several of the run-down buildings were nearly empty as well. They seemed to take everything and run once they heard they were raiding. They hoped that "everything" didn't include Sid. They had a debt to repay. No, this was more like a responsibility for putting him in danger.

While Two scanned the eighth and last dusty building for anything, she opened her communicator. "You two find him yet?"

"We got him," One said, sounding happy. "You can head back now. We made it to the outpost already.

Two breathed a sigh of relief. "Understood," two replied, shutting off the device. "Fou-"

"Found something," she called, peering under one of the many desks. "It's another one of these docs. Must've left it in the panic, huh?" She looked up, briefly, and winked fiercefully. Somehow.

While turning to face her, Two said, "I'll take it. We'll decode it later."

"No, that's the thing, there's not much to decode..."

"What?" Two rushed over to her and dragged the paper from under the desk. She looked at it for a while, and said, "It's not coded. 'Salmonid Research Center' ...is what it says." She sighed again. "I guess we'll keep this."

Something slammed outside. Four ducked, knowing she was next to a window. Two rushed to her, also keeping low. She peered over the windowsill, looking for any enemies.

And there were at least thirty surrounding the trapdoor, arranged in a circle. All of them were standing in a creepily ordered manner, with each one on the outside facing a different direction. They all had deadpan expressions, and all were looking straight ahead.

"How's it looking up there?" Four whispered to her.

 _Like a colony of ants..._

Since the first mention of the Akash person, she kept seeing that they were like a colony of ants, like they all had the same mind.

"We'll look at this more later," Two decided, meaning the paper. She shoved it into her pocket, somehow making no crumpling noises, and dropped back down into a crouch, "We can't take that many of them," she said, meaning the Octolings. "They're spaced too far apart, bombs won't work."

"Did you find an exit?"

Two stopped, and looked down in frustration.

Four crawled away from the window, crossed the building, and lifted herself off of the ground next to another window. This one, on the other side, only opened up to a cluster of tree trunks. "Which way is the city?" she asked.

Two whirled around. She saw Four pointing to the forest, and made her decision right there. She clenched to teeth. Running through the forest was the exact theming she tried to avoid last time she was there. "Fine. It seems that's the only way out..."

* * *

 **Guess what? I'm splitting chapters again! Been a while since the last time, but here I am.**

 **See you all soon, I guess.**


	25. Inside Grizzco, Part 2

**#25**

 **You know what I actually have an excuse for this one being weeks late and that is because of semester exams.**

 **...Next one'll be up soon.**

* * *

The right path of the hatch inside Grizzco was less uneventful than the left.

One and Three were huddled behind a wall, preparing to turn a corner just like the one on the other side. The hallway was the same as it was, bland and stony. They could hear the rhythmic steps of however many soldiers there were.

As far as they knew, there was no way around them, no alternate pathway for them to take. So they had to fight them head on. It was a good thing they were used to that sort of thing,

Three made a series of hand gestures, giving One his plan. She reluctantly agreed, since it was still a little disorienting to fight alongside him again. Even two years ago, he usually went solo on missions.

One pulled a bomb from the cap of her ink tank and gently handed it to Three's outstretched palm. With his other hand, he held up three fingers behind him. Then two fingers. Then one. When the last one curled back into his fist, he slammed the bomb onto the ground. It wouldn't explode any sooner, but his goal was the chaos that the sudden noises would make.

 _First one back..._ he thought to himself.

The bomb erupted into a splash of green ink, then Three rolled out to appear behind the splash before it fell away. He lashed the Inkwhip outwards, making use of its full length, and cut through the first two in an instant with only one slash.

Then he ducked and jumped backwards, avoiding enemy shots as he pressed his back to the wall. A few hit him, but he took them head on. Just as quickly, One leapt out from behind the wall and swung her Roller at the charging swarm, splatting more and grazing the rest with the

flick. She ended the rush with a quick Burst Bomb right to the front line, splatting another one.

Three pushed off the wall, jumped over One, and swung the Inkwhip again, catching, in succession, the rest of them with three blindingly fast flicks. Each of their intangible DNA clumps — ghost-like in appearance — floated through the ceiling, left to float until they found the nearest respawn point. Which would take at most thirty seconds, as the clumps tended to gravitate towards them.

When it was obvious that the thin battlefield was empty, Three flipped the Inkwhip's switch, calling back the ink, or light, or whatever it was. It didn't give off any light, even though it seemed to act like light, but with actual form and shape, and following gravity.

He kept it in his hand, just in case he needed it quickly again. "Hm," he hummed in approval, of both himself and One. "That was clean."

A wave of nostalgia, stemming from something she didn't know she had herself, hit One. It was that Three's personality completely changed on duty. He was less talkative, more serious — like he always had a "been there, done that," demeanor.

Again, she smiled under the mouth covering. She just couldn't bring herself to dislike it, even though Two wasn't too fond of the attitude.

"Come on," he said, looking over his shoulder. "There's something up ahead."

"Y-yeah..."

She was still trying to process that he was there. In one moment, stuck in prison underground, and the next... not in prison, but still underground.

 _Ugh, I've thought that, like, fifty times already..._

A staircase going further down appeared in front of her. One almost fell down the abrupt drop, but then she stopped herself. Couldn't go embarrassing herself in front of Three, now.

Like the hallway, the stairwell was brightly lit. It was still thin, so One had to hold her Roller behind her. Three was fine, his weapon was just a dangerous rope.

"Is that all!?" somebody yelled, further down the staircase. He sounded angered, more than anything. Neither of them could see what exactly he was doing.

"That's him," Three said, as if it was the most normal thing he'd heard. And then he broke into a sprint.

One did her best to follow while keeping her own weapon from hitting the wall, but it left a few marks. Thin hallways were not ideal for wide weapons. She chased after him, going down four steps at a time.

Through the light, Three saw a door at the bottom. "Hah!" Three yelled, as he jumped for it and kicked it open. A stream of light burst out of the staircase. The room was much wider than the hallway, and it had another door on the other side.

Sid was... free. And holding a pocket knife on the left side of the room. There were severed ropes laying on the floor. The walls were still the same, and so were the ceiling and floor.

Four other figures stood in different places. Two of them, both male, had the barrels of their weapons pointing at Sid. On the other side, there was another girl, crossing her arms and leaning against a wall.

Most importantly, there was somebody in the corner in a purple cloak. In every way, he matched the description of Octrope that One gave him. He'd have all the important thinks they wanted to know.

Three took less than half a second to take in the scene, all while keeping a blank face. Octrope was interesting, he seemed very short for someone of his presumed age. Only two thirds of the girl's height.

But as things were, Sid was the priority. "Cover me!" he shouted behind himself, then he pivoted left to face the two in front of Sid. He dashed towards him and let the Inkwhip fly behind himself as he he prepared to flick the whole thing at them.

"Back off! We're the ones with the hostage!" yelled one of the kidnappers, in perfect Inkling language. "One hit and he's out!"

Three skidded to a stop, not more than a single meter from Sid. One stood farther away, on the other side, in a stance that prepped the Roller for a flick. Three blinked, but did nothing to express any emotion.

The Octoling was right. Sid wasn't wearing one of the Hero Suits. And against the informally dubbed "serious ink," one hit caused an instant splat. Who knew if there were any good respawn points around...

They were at a standstill. Or no, more of a checkmate; any move they could make here wouldn't end well.

Yet he still kept a blank face. His mind was running; Three was confident in his quick thinking and affinity for getting out of situations like this. There was always a way out.

The girl on the other side sighed, smiling. "There's a whole network of tunnels down here," she said. She chuckled quietly to herself. "Annie would've liked to explore them. That was... that was my sister's name. _Our_ sister's name."

 _Annie..._

There was no time to dwell on it. But she wasn't talking about the shopkeeper that used to be in the plaza, he was sure of that.

"I see you've stolen our weapons..." One uttered.

The girl shrugged. "Tch. And you've stolen ours." She paused. "No dignity."

So she accepted the change of subject. Three couldn't see her, but he was sure she was referring to the Inkwhip. "You gave this to me," Three reminded her.

 _Why would One say that now?_

The enemy's weapons were an odd thing to mention. Was she trying to draw his attention somewhere?

He let his eyes wander to the kidnappers' hands. One of them was holding an Octo Shot. Almost all of them did, so that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. That one wasn't stolen. Of course, he noticed the other one, the Splatling the other one was holding. It was chrome with purple nozzles, the color of the ink loaded into it. He wasn't familiar with the model. It had to be a new addition to the Hero collection, based on what One said.

 _The nozzles..._

Ah. There it was. The nozzles were not spinning, meaning it was not ready to fire. The most it could shoot instantly was a single shot. Easily blockable.

He made a mental note to thank One for the observation later. He didn't catch that one, and she was facing the other direction. So she had to have seen it in the split second they had when entering.

The girl scoffed. "Wha- Yeah, we gave that to you, but we never have you permission to take it above ground!"

"How about you..." One started. Her hand twitched, but it was definitely on purpose.

Both kidnappers pointed their weapons slightly to the left, at One. "Stop!" the same one shouted. "You're outnumbered!"

 _There._

Three pushed off the ground and jumped in front of Sid. He flicked the Inkwhip with his left hand, only letting four shots leave the Octo Shot before its weilder was splatted, all of which sailed right over him and Sid.

He slid between the Splatling and Sid. The one bullet he predicted would leave the weapon went towards Sid's feet. Three held out a leg and took it himself, and his new Hero Suit saved him from the instant splat. Then he twisted the wrist holding the Inkwhip.

A moment later, the other kidnapper was gone. Three once again deactivated the Inkwhip. He dove for the Splatling and caught it by the handle before it could sink and dissociate to follow the Octoling to the respawn point.

"Ugh," said the girl leaning on the wall, more annoyed than intimidated. She faced the cloaked figure in the corner. "I told you I should've brought the Hero Shot." She uncrossed her arms, and in one of them, there was a small button.

"No!" One dropped the Roller and dove for the girl's hand. But she had already pressed it.

Both she and Octrope blew up in ink, and both of their DNA clumps floated away.

"Smart..." Three muttered after a moment had passed. And then, to One, "We're done here."

She said that there was a whole network of tunnels.

 _A whole network of tunnels..._

He didn't know they were already this deep into infrastructure. They were there two years ago, when they raided parts of the battle stages, but a whole network wasn't necessary back then. The captain confirmed himself that it was only a few passages.

Now, though, it was different. Either the team was really lucky with the several new tunnels they'd been finding, or that girl was lying.

But he didn't have any reason to disbelieve her. All of the evidence pointed to that being true.

So what exactly were they planning to do with the new network?

One's face twisted into an expression of disgust upon seeing the controlled explosions. "And she said we're the ones without dignity." She stomped to the corner and pulled the cloak out of the floor. "I'm taking this," she decided, as she balled it up and shoved it in her pocket. Somehow, it all fit.

"We'll get you out of here," Three said to Sid. "Sorry for the setback."

Three looked up. On the ceiling, there was a target-shaped design, right in the center.

* * *

 **This one is way different compared to the original. I felt that Eileen needed more scenes.**


	26. Purple Trench Coat

**#26**

 **Look at this chapter. It's so short.**

 **But wait! There's two this week! Rejoice!**

* * *

"What now." Octavio said it like an order more than a question. The enraged face of his was becoming more of a blank face for him. He looked like that so often, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "Tch. And the Eagle thing's still there."

One looked over. "Oh. Whoops, I hit the button. Anyway, we've decided to get rid of this!" She didn't have to point at anything, what she was referring to was obvious; she was dragging the pink folding screen to the cabin.

"Why," he demanded, just as gravely and even less questioning.

"What did it ever do in the first place?" As One pulled it farther ahead, she revealed someone else behind it. But she still kept going.

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Agent 3…" Octavio mumbled. "Finally got out, eh?" He raised his eyebrow menacingly, as if to tell him his escape meant nothing.

"What exactly was it you planned to do with me?" Three had his arms crossed. "You had me underground for a long time…"

Octavio growled at him. "...Keep you from the Zapfish."

"Then your plan worked? You stole the Great Zapfish, and I couldn't do anything about it? But then Four rescued it. You had us recruit another member."

Octavio kept silent at this.

Three shook his head. "The part with the brainwashing wasn't your doing, then?"

"...What did Octrope do?"

"Brainwash me and had me fight the other three," he said. "You didn't hear of this? I guess he really has taken over."

"You could've just asked if you wanted to know something about him," Octavio blurted.

That caught Three off guard, but the only thing he did was blink. That was the longest sentence he'd ever heard him say.

Octavio continued. "But I don't know anything that I didn't tell one of you. Ask them."

And then One dashed back out of the cabin. "Have you seen this thing before?" she said, more excitedly than she intended. She presented the purple cloak to him, which looked more like a trench coat.

Before then, the NSS hadn't seen a clear picture of the cloak, but now, they had it in their hands. The buttons had a weird design that made them look like stars.

"Yeah. I've seen it," said Octavio, "You're sayin' the purple guy's Octrope?"

 _He really hates this guy,_ Three noticed. _This is the most he's ever said with me around._

Octavio shut his eyes. "The Octarian grunts are just big tentacles. Cut one off, and it grows a tiny brain after a while. The Octoling grows the tentacle back."

"H-hold on," One began, "what does this-"

"Some of them grow into two tentacles. But cut off two, and get the same thing faster. And they still grow back."

Three stopped One from saying anything more. He held his arm out in front of her.

"That's what most people think," Octavio continued. "There's a whole bunch of stuff ya need to do for it to work. Two tentacles need more stuff. It's harder to pull off. But three, none grew into three."

"So you tried cutting off three at once with more… _complex_ process?" guessed Cuttlefish, who walked into view from behind the cabin.

Octavio glared at him before speaking again. "Yeah." He paused, stern. "The tentacles didn't grow back. The guy they tried it on wore that hood after. Never knew it was Octrope."

He stopped the story there, and left the outpost in silence.

"...Akash is missing three limbs?" One blurted. "The guy we're after is missing three limbs?"

A breeze wafted in.

"The Octarian grew the brain," Octavio sighed. "But they couldn't get it to follow orders, and it escaped."

"Thank you," said Three, before stepping on the muffle button with his foot. "Well, we found something on Octrope, at least. That girl next to him though, she might be an issue…"

"Um…" Sid walked out from behind the cabin, the same place the captain came from.

"The one who blew herself up?" He seemed more timid. Made sense. It wasn't a normal thing to be kidnapped, even if only for a few minutes.

"That one, yeah."

"Sh-she said her name was Eileen," he explained. "And something about a sister…"

"Based on what I heard," Three began, "Her sister's name was Annie. And she's either dead or just missing. Earlier this year, she disappeared earlier this year…" He went to the wall near Octavio's globe and sat on the part farthest away from him.

 _It couldn't be her… Right…?_


	27. Seadragon's Monster

**#27**

* * *

"Four, follow my lead."

Two and Four were in the middle of a forest. Seadragon Wood, to be precise. Light was minimal, since the trees' desperate competition for sunlight covered any above spots through which light could flow through.

There was a boulder embedded into the ground. Only the faint outline could be seen in the near darkness. The two were faced with finding a way around it.

And whatever it was that was sitting on top of it.

Two went from standing in front of it to sidestepping in a wide circle around the stone. Four copied her, keeping only a few steps behind her former mentor.

As they walked, they kept their fronts to the stone. They could make out a faint outline of an Octarian on it. Its tentacles moved seemingly randomly, as they flopped to every side, or in circles, completely different from the controlled chaos of other Octarians. They could see one tentacle first. Then two. It was looking in the opposite direction.

 _I've never seen one out here,_ Two thought to herself. _Use caution…_

And then, as they reached the other side of the rock, the side towards the city, a third tentacle came into view.

Four flinched.

 _Th-three?_

No, there were never three of them, it was always only one or two. Octobombers had five, but… no, they were a completely different class of Octarian!

This one was on land, not the air. It looked shriveled. From their new perspective, it was facing left, mindlessly snarling at a patch of darkness.

"Back up," whispered Two. "Keep your eyes on it."

At the sound of her voice, however quiet it was, the Octarian turned to look at them. Two and Four started their retreat. Five steps away, and the Octarian jumped off of the stone. Five more steps, and it gave chase.

"Turn around," Two said, foregoing the whisper, "Run." She fired one shot from her Charger, since she'd been holding the trigger down, but it didn't do anything other an annoy it.

Two scowled, slung her weapon on her back, and sprinted after Four.

Four leapt over a root and ducked under a branch. She took a glance behind her, and saw the Octarian's eyes for a fleeting second. The whole things were purple, unlike other Octarian eyes, and they radiated danger. She heard the Charger Shot, and if it was still standing, running away was their best bet.

Two was behind her by only a few meters. Thankfully, it seemed like whatever this monster was couldn't run any faster than they could.

A stream of light revealed itself as Four cleared a rock. The path ahead was clear for the most part, so she slid a Curling Bomb across it. The explosive glid across the pebbles in the dirt as Four swam through. It exploded, leaving a small puddle.

Four jumped out as she reached the end of the path and burst into the sunlight, tearing through a few low-hanging leaves at the forest's edge. She rolled to the side, leaving room for Two to dive out a moment later. Then she kept going. The city was a long distance away from the grassy field she just landed in, so she couldn't super jump-

"Four," Two called. "You can stop."

Four skidded to a halt, kicking up some dirt, and whirled around. She brushed her hair away from her eyes and let out a breath she was holding.

The Octarian was centimeters away from the edge of the forest, right where the shadow met the light. It wouldn't move from that spot, as if the light erected a wall visible to only it.

"It's shriveled," Two sighed, "there's no ink for us to counteract." She looked up at the sun. "But if it gets any more dehydrated, it dies." She turned away from it, not bothering to pay it any more attention. "Let's go."

* * *

Sid was gone. They left him to do whatever, as much as One wanted to make it up to him somehow.

At the moment, they were left sitting and waiting. Captain Cuttlefish was in his usual spot on the cabin's seat, One stood against the cabin wall with her arms crossed, and Three was firing at the training balloons with the Splatling and blankly staring at the ground.

And Octavio was just staring at Three from his spot in the globe.

"Hey, Cap?" Three said. "Have you been writing everything down like you usually do?"

He turned and scratched his beard. "Aye. Need the papers? They're in the cabin. Just… bring 'em back, eh?"

Three dropped the weapon on the ground, making sure to keep it away from the edges of the land. "Sure." And with that, he pushed the door open and shut it behind him. The door made an eerie creaking noise.

Effectively, One was alone. From where she was, nobody could see her.

Why did she feel like she'd seen that girl before? The one Octoling standing next to Akash, she wasn't wearing any Hypno-Shades.

Again, with the memories. Slowly, they just kept coming back. Even with only the feeling, Callie could figure out on her own that she had definitely seen her in the brainwashed period she had.

Now that she thought about it, Simon had a similar experience, being brainwashed and forced to fight. His wasn't as nearly as long, though, so he might not have seen anything important.

He was gone for a really long time. The last time she heard of him before she got brainwashed was when he went on a mission with the Captain. To somewhere, sometime. All of the details were kept secret, even to her and Marie.

So how much time, exactly, was he imprisoned underground? She wasn't sure when, in that period of time, he was captured. How long after that first mission it was.

Then there was a bubbling heard from the manhole. "We're back!" Four yelled, shooting out of the grate. She landed, caught her breath, and scanned the area, laying eyes on the Splatling. "Whoa, you got one! ...Where'd Sid go?"

"He left," One explained. She stepped out from her unintentional hiding spot as Two climbed out. "Three's in there," she said, pointing with her thumb to the cabin. "What'd you find?"

Two eyed Octavio suspiciously. "Almost nothing," she said with a hint of disappointment in herself. "Just this." She retrieved the Salmonid Research Center paper from her pocket and held it up for her and the captain to see. She angled it in a way that prevented Octavio from seeing the front.

"And that Octarian," Four added.

"...Yeah. Nice work getting the Splatling. That leaves five more."

Three pushed the cabin's door open again, this time from the inside, while carrying a wide folder under one of his arms. "Oh, that's what you found?" he said. "'Salmonid Research Center…' Let me take a look."

"Go ahead," Two said, folding it in half. "Take it behind the cabin."

"Hm?" Three hummed. "Oh, okay, sure." He caught it as Two tossed it to him and proceeded to the other side. Two sighed and walked over with him.

And Four kept standing in the same spot, not going to the back with them. What would she contribute there anyway?

She waved to Cuttlefish. "Captain, I'm heading out for a bit."

Before he could answer, she went right back out. Not even thirty seconds after showing up. "That girl…" he muttered.

* * *

Out of all the Dualies, there were only two types with the Splashdown that Rose was looking for: Clear Dapple and Dark Tetra. The Clear kit fit her objective better, so that was the pair she chose.

She took another look at the training room. A bit small for her liking, but it would work. Hallway with training balloons, and another section off to the left. It was a miracle that Ammo Knights wasn't constantly packed with people wanting to use this basement.

There was a Squid Beakon in the center of the hall that Rose placed there with a different weapon kit before switching to the Dapples.

If there was one thing she could say about what she was thinking of doing, it was that it was stupid. Not dangerous stupid, more like "there's no way this should work" stupid. But on the off chance something did happen, it would completely turn the tide of any battle.

Rose stood directly next to the Beakon, idly spinning the Dualies in her hands. She took a single breath, laid on the ground for a moment, and super jumped, homing in on the Beakon. She flew straight up. It wouldn't work otherwise

While midair, she changed out of Squid form and flipped her body so she faced down, as if she was diving into the floor. At the peak of her jump, she hit the Dualies together, starting the split second it took for the Splashdown to activate.

Both Dualies were in her other hand, and right before she fell with the coat of ink surrounding her, she hit the dodge-roll triggers on both of the Dualies with her thumb.

 _If it's speed that breaks the ink ball…_


	28. To the Ocean

**#28**

 **Hey, so I might have a very inconsistent update schedule starting soon, so yeah, sorry. Highschool is stressful.**

* * *

"Hey, I'm back again!" Four yelled… again.

To her, it looked like they were just getting rid of the pink folding screen in front of Octavio's globe. She hadn't seen it since getting out of the forest. He glared at her darkly, like he always did. Delightful.

The rest of the team was behind the cabin, since she could see Two's arm wrapped around the corner. And Three was sitting in a place she could see from the grate, but the actual paper was outside of Octavio's line of sight.

"Where'd you go for the past five minutes?" Two said, more boredly than angrily. "We already have a plan."

"No, sorry about that," Four explained. "Just had Sheldon attach a Splashdown to these." With her thumbs, she pointed at the Dualies holstered at her waist. "I haven't seen many canned specials since the Octrope guy appeared."

"Yeah, yeah," Two sighed. "Just remember that if you ever find another can, you can't use it anymore."

"Not that it matters…" Four muttered. The Splashdown was the only special she wanted to use with the Dualies. "What was the plan?"

"Here, look," Three broke in. "She got all of this translated… Anyway, this whole Salmonid Research Center is designed to be underwater. The way the building's designed…"

"Okay…" Four mumbled. "Why's that important?"

"Hold on. Look at this part here…" He placed his finger on a cylindrical portion to the right side. "This is labeled 'Egg Storage.'"

"Oh, I get it!" Four exclaimed.

One joined in. "We're planning to get one of our yachts and use it as bait for the fish bot people have been finding near the Restricted Zone. We're in agreement, there? That fish is definitely a robot like _that_."

And then she pointed at the Eagle, which was pretty much right next to them. It was impressive that the outpost could hold its weight so easily.

"I guess so," Two remarked. "But we're using it. The Eagle."

"Wait, what?" One blurted. "You never said this earlier!"

"We're attacking a tank, might as well use another one of them. And there's nothing stopping us from using it, since it's not underground."

Four raised her arm. "But it's underwater-"

"We'll attack the fish with the Eagle. Take over the fish, and use that to reach the Research Center. If the Eagle's any indication, it'll be easy to pilot."

"Uh… I got it…" Four trailed off. "When?"

Three leaned back. "Tomorrow," he said. "You three have had enough recently."

"I'll fly the Eagle to the part of the forest near the ocean," Two said, gesturing to the giant mass of metal behind her. "We'll meet up by the coast. I'll get the exact time to you tonight." Then she stared, confused, at the three faces intently looking at her. "Dismissed, I guess?"

Four sighed, dropping onto the ground with them. Some time passed in silence.

 _The NSS has never been on the offense like this before_ ,Three thought to himself.

"I'm leaving for now," he decided. "We're out of stuff to do."

"We really are out of stuff to do," Four echoed. "Three, wanna go shoot people?"

* * *

"I got the back," Simon decided. "I'll flank 'em, and you pressure this side."

"Mm," Rose hummed in agreement. The speaker played some guitar riff, indicating the sixty seconds they had left to retake and hold the Splat Zone.

Starfish Mainstage had a bunch of pop music-related gimmicks.

Simon swam to the right, careful to avoid the attention of the enemy team. He cleared the short jump and proceeded to the opposite wall.

From his place, the Charger would be the biggest problem. They were camping in the elevated platform near their base, even with the giant sign in the way, but that was still a suitable Charger perch.

Rose ran forward, on her legs rather than in the ink, and that elicited the Charger's attention. Simon took the chance and jumped onto the wall.

Rose rolled left, waited, then rolled again, winking at the Charger.

She wasn't just going all out with her rolls like most people did, Simon noticed. She was mixing up her movement to keep the Charger on edge.

And that gave him the chance to fire the crucial shots that splatted them.

Rose retook the zone, and sat on one of the nearby speakers. Once again, he and Rose were the MVPs of the match. Both of the others were at spawn.

Simon threw a bomb at the enemy spawn just for the heck of it. He already knew that they won, so he stretched on the platform and waited the ten-ish seconds it would take for their counter to hit zero.

Then the whistle blew.

* * *

Lobbies in the tower's basement were expectedly decorated with chaos in mind; paint splashes were on the otherwise beige walls, and every seat was a different color, with some being more than one.

"Hey, Simon, how'd I do?" Rose chirped. "Was it NSS worthy?"

"Whoa," Simon warned, shooting his gaze around the lobby. There was nobody around, thankfully. "Be careful with that."

Rose leaned back in her chair. "Yeah, yeah, I looked already. Anyway, how was it?"

 _I'm only two years older than her?_ he thought, exasperated. _She's like a child…_

Though, he supposed, she did have some semblance of maturity under the childlike persona. Maybe she was a secret genius… he could never tell with these types. Which included Callie.

"You did great," he said. Simon fell into the nearest seat and folded his hands. "You think quickly, and you don't move without reason. You're a good member of the team."

At that, her eyes lit up. "Really?"

What have Callie and Marie been saying about him to get Rose to see him like this? "Yes, really. You have a kind of raw talent that few people have."

She laughed out loud. "What was it like two years ago?" she asked as it died down. Rose put on an inquisitive expression. "I've only been on the team for a few weeks."

"Oh, trust me," Simon began, shaking his head. "Chasing Octrope is the most exciting thing we've ever done."

Rose was staring at him, still with the same expression. He raised an eyebrow at her, but kept going.

"About you getting the Zapfish, I did that too, two years ago. But, based on Marie's retelling, I think Octavio was easier for you… No offense, though. They only had two years to prepare for you, and who knows how many for me."

"None taken," Rose droned. She was holding her hands in front of her mouth, elbows on her knees.

"After the first Zapfish incident, I went on several patrols… then I got thrown in jail for a while…" He put his hand behind his neck.

 _And I can't tell her about_ that…

"Just out of curiosity," Simon started, "what do you think of the Octolings?"

"Huh…" she stopped to think for a moment. "I don't really blame them," she decided. "They don't have much down there…"

 _So we're on the same page, then._

"But we're kinda reliant on the Zapfish, though. I could imagine more bad stuff would happen if we run out of power than if they keep doing what they've been doing."

 _There_ was the maturity he felt in her. She didn't _fight_ without reason either. He nodded, just to tell her he agreed and was listening.

"Oh yeah, and they've recently been acting a little weird. How do I explain this… they're less… fluid? I don't know…"

 _Ah. Well. That wasn't where I was expecting this to go, but she noticed, too…_

He'd only had one fight with regular soldiers, but he'd noticed the same thing. They were all moving as if they were under some kind of hive mind. Marie said the same thing. "Like a colony of ants…" she had said to him.

Well, that wasn't anything they could pursue for the time.

"And Octrope's end goal…" he said. "What do you think it is?" Simon already had an idea for that, but he wanted to see what Rose thought.

"Surface, obviously," she said, yawning. "Why else would he need the giant robots? Or you in prison? Couldn't he have just released you and been done with it?"

Simon blinked. "I get where you're coming from, but why would he do that? I'm really dangerous, at least to them."

"If he was just after power, he did that already. Nobody's complaining about Grizzco. Except for us, but that's only because they brought us to the middle of nowhere and attacked us," she said, lightly laughing. "If he just released you, he could have sent the message that he wasn't out to kill all of us. But he didn't. So he knew we would fight him if we knew what he was doing."

"You do have a point…" he admitted. "You-"

He was interrupted but the sound of a door opening behind him. An Inkling he didn't recognize nervously peered inside.

Simon turned back to Rose. "We'll save this for later."


	29. Splattack!

Rose managed to start a group chat with the other NSS members

—

 _ **CompassRose**_

 _ **Soooooo**_

 _ **Another day w/o the serious carp**_

 _ **Wat do**_

 _ **EmeraldPlayer479**_

 _ **Idk still could go for turf war it's been a while**_

 _ **CompassRse**_

 _ **Alright 10:00?**_

 _ **EmeraldPlayer479**_

 _ **Sure**_

 _ **Marie**_

 _ **Cal and I still have celebrity stuff to do. Maybe some other time.**_

—

"Wait, hold on, before we go into the Tower, Simon, I gotta show you something."

"Uh? Okay? What is it?"

"It's easier to do than to explain. Come on, it's in the testing room!"

—

Simon stood, covered in ink, baffled at the Splashdown he just witnessed. Rose did the same thing as she did yesterday. She used the Dark Tetra Dualies for the Splashdown.

"What."

"It surprised me too!"

"I take it that's illegal in Ink Battles?"

"Yup."

"Imagine using that on Octarians!"

"That's what I plan to do! Sheldon is attaching the Splashdown to the Hero Dualies now,"

"This gives us the edge we need!"

"This is perfect. I think I'll call it Skydive."

"I like it. Now, come on, I'm gonna try the Aerospray RG again."

—

"Guys, we got a minute left!"

Blackbelly Skatepark. The first stage Simon ever played on. He knew it well. They had purple ink.

He was on the central tower with a Splatterscope player. They had the center secured, but the sides were both orange.

Rose was trying to retake the side connected to their base.

Simon went after the other side.

The Splatterscope stayed on the tower to keep the center.

The last player, wielding a Sorella Brella, tried to ambush the enemy in the left side from behind.

Time was ticking. Rose was splatted by her opponent, who had her most hated weapon: the Clash Blaster.

The Clash Blaster pushed into the base.

Simon and the Sorella Brella did the same to their opponents' base. However, they actually had enemies to deal with.

Another Clash Blaster splatted the Brella by aiming to her side. Simon was almost splatted by an Inkbrush, but the Splatterscope got him in time.

Rose respawned and ambushed the Clash Blaster.

Simon retreated into the ink to recover.

Rose tried to retake the base's turf.

GAME!

—

Purple-43.5%

Orange-45.7%

"Dangit!" Rose said.

"I guess I'm still better with the N-ZAP..." Simon remarked.

The other team high-fived.

"Grr... we woud've won that if it wasn't for you two!" The Splatterscope player said.

Simon sighed. "Another one of these guys... never thought I would see one in Turf War..." he muttered.

"You!" He pointed at Rose. "You let the Clash Blaster take our base! And you-"

"I'll stop you right there." Simon told him.

Rose was visibly angry at him. She opened her moth to speak, but Simon kept going. He was a naturally level-headed person.

"You were camping the whole time."

"So? I got the most splats, didn't I?"

"Look at the scoreboard." He gestured to his left. "She got the most splats," he said, referring to Rose. He was at 10, while she got 13. "Oh, and would you look at that!" He began to playfully mock him, who was at the bottom of the board. "You only got 264 points? What a shame, what a shame. Come on, Rose, let's go."

—

"Okay, Rose. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Listen to Low Tide or something."

"How did you deal with him so easily?"

"I used to play a lot of Ranked. You gotta calm down."

"I know..."

They both felt their communicators vibrate.

—

2

Do NOT go to Octo Canyon.

It's been attacked.

3

How do you know? What happened?

2

I had a hidden camera set up for things like these. It's been stormed. Troops came from Grizzco.

4

When do we take it back?

2

We need to meet first. It has to be fast. We can't let them break open the door to the Eagle.

3

I didn't return the documents yet. Those are safe.

1

This is a problem. I kinda can't leave now.

2

I can.

3

We should be able to handle it.

2

You sure? There are a lot of them. The entrance is trapped. 

1

We still have another truck. Can that one fly?

2

Yes.

1

How would you take them all at once?

4

Skydive.

2

What?

4

Just wait.

—

The available members of the NSS met near the outside of the city, in a deserted place. Agent 2 had the extra truck painted and tinted already. Sheldon was already in the driver's seat.

"The Dualies are in the back."

"Sheldon, fly over the Outpost." Agent 4 was planning something.

"Why?"

"That thing I did in the testing room."

"Okay. Got it."

"You two ready?" Agent 2 asked.

"I brought the Inkwhip."

"Alright. Get in the truck."

"How many of them are there?" Agent 3 asked.

"A lot. They found the camera and destroyed it. There might be more now."

"Is the Cap'n safe?"

"Yes. He's back in his own house."

—

Octavio gestured to the mute button. The Octoling outside hit it.

"Hello," she said.

"What do you want?"

"A pilot for the improved Octobot King."

"And why would I help you?"

"To get revenge on the petty members of the NSS."

"And give Akash leadership?"

"Tell you what, we're giving you an opportunity here."

"No."

"Okay, then. I guess it's come to this. We won't kill you if you help us."


	30. Take Back the Outpost

**Another question for you guys: has anyone found out the joke in "Akash"?**

—

Agent 4 charged the Splashdown on some nearby deserted pavement. Doesn't matter if it was illegal, nobody comes here, and there we're no cameras. "Besides, it's gong to dry," she said.

Despite how it looked, Octo Canyon was much closer to Inkopolis than Octo Valley. The truck could make it there with ease.

Once they saw the Outpost in the distance, the truck started to ascend. Agent 2 was confused.

"Do we have to go up this high? We're out of reach from even an E-Liter."

"It's fine," Agent 4 assured, "my eyesight can help. I'm going to do this thing, it'll be amazing and make our jobs easier."

"I think we're right over it," Agent 3 said.

"Oh, already?" She looked down. "Yep, we are. Woo, there are a lot of them. I'll go first, you two follow me."

"Wait, Four-"

Agent 4 jumped off, Dualies in hand, and aimed for the center of the Outpost, near the Manhole.

Dodge-roll. Splashdown.

Boom.

"Whoa! What was that?" Agent 2 asked.

"Must've been pretty good if it impressed someone like you," Agent 3 responded.

"Well thanks. But what was that?"

"A Splashdown after a dodge-roll. Now, come on, there's probably more in the Cabin or something."

The other two Agents Super Jumped to Agent 4. They saw the entire area was covered in blue ink. There were no Octolings in sight.

The Cabin was also destroyed. The door leading to the Eagle looked unharmed.

"Did... you do that?" Agent 3 asked, pointing at the Cabin.

"I don't think so, it looked destroyed when I was falling."

"Good thing the documents are safe, then."

"Alright, let's check for more of them," Agent 2 suggested.

She meant, of course, the area connected to the Outpost with four Kettles. It would have been protected with the rocks nearby.

There were a few, but they were cowering in fear. They escaped into the Kettles.

"Is that all? That seemed easy," Agent 3 said.

"Probably not," Agent 4 replied. "Knowing Akash..."

"Yep, I know what you mean. Wait, is that dubstep?"

"Does it sound like friendly dubstep or unfriendly dubstep?" Agent 2 asked with a blank look on her... eyes.

"Very unfriendly," Agent 3 responded.

"Octobot King? Again?" Agent 4 asked. "You think they would have learned something."

"I'll get the Eagle. You two... find something else to do."

"Like?"

"I don't know, but I can't leave you in the Eagle. It'll probably be a rough ride." And with that, she ran off to the Eagle.

They saw the truck lower down and land.

A screech filled the air to rival the impending doomstep.

The Octobot King II flew close and let loose the signature horn blare.

The Eagle took off.

"That's the one you dealt with, right?" asked Agent 3.

"Yeah, but it looks a bit different."

The fists were smaller, and therefore faster.

Also, it could only perform spinning punches. None could be deflected.

Being practically useless, Agent 3 decided to take the time to update Callie on the situation.

—

3

We made it here and cleared the area of Octolings. The second Octobot King showed up, and 2 is fighting it with the Eagle. We can't deflect its punches, so we're useless right now.

1

Okay. I still can't make it there. Why don't you try and unblock the Manhole?

4

I just checked. They apparently poured a bunch of cement in it.

1

Oh, really? Never mind then. Sorry.

—

Agent 2 had a really easy time dodging the fists. It's like he was trying to miss.

The missles were blocked by the annoying invisible barrier. The punches destroyed them immediately.

Bombs were useless because they couldn't land.

The Sting Ray was the only option for attack. It deflected the fists and...

They rocketed off to the side instead of back at him.

They really thought of everything.

In other words, the battle was going nowhere.

—

One of the fists landed on the Outpost. It was not built for this kind of shaking.

The Kettles all broke. There were holes where the Kettles were.

"Should we gather the Kettle lids?" Agent 4 said. "The mysterious engineer builder person might appreciate the scrap metal."

"No."

"Why not?"

"What are those things called?"

"Oh carp. Those are Octopods. Let's get in the truck."

Octopods were pouring out of the Kettles and slowly charging after them.

Agent 3 got Sheldon's attention. "Drive! Octopods!"

After he followed Agent 4 into the truck, the truck took off.

—

"Ugh, he is useless! Start the timer!"

—

Agent 2 shot another fist back to the side.

The stage on the Octobot King that Callie sang on opened up. Something large and metal emerged from the opening.

A rectangular screen on it displayed 10:00

9:59

9:58

9:57

Octavio suddenly stopped throwing punches. His voice was still amplified by the speakers.

"Get out of here! It's a bomb!"

—

"Send the wall again."

—

The ring that accompanied the Eagle on the first encounter swept in from above and began to spray ink. They were trapped.

The ring ascended higher than the Eagle could fly.

The Eagle was sturdy enough to fly through the ink. At least, it would be if the joints were protected.

"Do we find a way to free Octavio?" Agent 4 asked hastily.

"Yes, duh. We can't just let the legitimate leader of an entire species die! He might also be helpful," Agent 3 responded quickly.

The Octobot King landed on the Outpost, crushing all of the Octopods.

"I can't go through the ink! It'll detonate the bomb!" he said seriously.

"Octavio!" Agent 2 shouted when the Eagle approached the docking point. "Are you trying to help us!?"

"Well now that the bomb's out, I can say yes! They said they would blow me up if I was useless! Apparently I am useless! Now find a way out of here!"

"Not without you, we're not," Agent 2 said after emerging from the door. "You're not useless to us!"

"But the barrier blocks me in here too!" He demonstrated by tapping the barrier, which held him in well.

Agent 3 had a plan. "Two, is there a respawn point nearby we can change the color of?"

"What? What's that for?" Agent 4 asked in a panic.

"All of the ones the Kettles had should be purple. Remember the Octolings that went down there?"

"Perfect. Four, go check for traps near the first Kettle, but do not go down there. Chuck some bombs in it.

Agent 4 did just that, tossing a few Autobombs into the hole. They exploded in place, meaning there was no enemy nearby.

"It's good!" She called.

Agent 3 bounded up to the barrier. "Sorry about this, but you're going to get out of here somehow. Aim for the Stage One Kettle. " he said before activating the Inkwhip and swinging it at him.

"Wait, what are you-" he was cut off because he was splatted.

A few seconds later, he leapt out of the hole.

"Okay, I get it, but give me a warning first!"

Sheldon landed and went into the door leading to the Eagle.

3 minutes left.

"Now we have to get out of here," Agent 2 yelled. "Find things to protect the joints."

There were three. Two for the legs and one for the head.

They all stared at Octavio.

"You want me to do it?"

"Do you want to get blown up? You're the only one here who can resist the ink!"

He winced. "Fine."

"Two more," Agent 3 said.

"Boss Kettle lid." Agent 4 said. "I'll hold on to it from below. The ink should be weaker now, I'll handle it. I'll shoot the area around it so it's easier to hold on to the Eagle."

1 minute left.

"There's one more!" Agent 2 said, meaning the joints and the time.

"What's else is there?"

Agent 4 grabbed the lid and waited with Octavio.

Agent 2 positioned the Eagle so it was easy to get on. "He's already in here!" she's said, meaning Sheldon.

They climbed onto the Eagle and got into position.

Agent 3 looked frantically for something to use.

30 seconds.

Agent 3 found something. It was a piece of wood from the Cabin ruins, not entirely destroyed and still large enough to block the ink.

5

He started to run back.

4

Still running.

3

He made it. His joint was the leg closest to him.

Agent 4 inked the area in advance so he would have an easier time with holding on.

2

He held up the wood.

1

The Eagle took off with a screech.

0

—

 **Ha ha! I decided to leave you guys with... something that resembles a cliffhanger? You can probably guess what's going to happen, though.**

 **Anyway, I've decided that I am going to start a Legend of Zelda fanfic sometime. Not anytime soon, though. This story is too far ahead to stop now.**

 **I've been a lifelong fan of Zelda.**

 **If you like me as a writer and Zelda in general, keep a lookout for that.**

 **If you're here for the Splatoon, don't worry. I still have a lot more planned for the future.**

 **You know, when I joined, I thought it would end pretty quickly, like a few others do. But no, I've found something that I really enjoy.**

 **This community in general is really accepting and kind, and I love it for that. Thanks, guys, no matter how few or many you are.**


	31. The Real Leader

1

Are you all okay?

4

We're all heading back now.

3

We didn't take it back, though.

1

Why not?

3

The Octobot King blew up.

4

Octavio is with us.

2

He wasn't trying to kill me. That much was obvious.

—

Callie was letting those last few statements sink in. Why? Why was Octavio being merciful?

She didn't trust him. Not one bit. He did hypnotize her, after all.

Good thing he didn't recognize she was Agent 1. That would make for an interesting encounter.

She just left the appointment that was scheduled for before the incident. Neither of the people there, including Callie, cared at all. Too bad it was mandatory. It was so insignificant and boring, she forgot the topic when it ended.

Her mind, of course was constantly preoccupied with the Agents. She felt guilty for not being there with the rest of them. If she left the appointment suddenly, people might follow her, possibly blowing her cover as an Agent. The communicator looked like a phone, so it was never questioned.

Once she returned to the apartment, she pulled out the communicator.

—

1

Where do we meet now?

4

Give us a sec, Two is finding somewhere to park the Eagle without anyone noticing.

—

Agent 2 didn't bother flying towards Inkopolis when escaping from the bomb. She just flew away.

Shrapnel from the Octobot King and the Outpost flew in all directions. Agents 4 and 3 both had their makeshift shields to block that.

The wooden one caught some flying pieces, and one nearly impaled Agent 3. It was a long rod. After he let it sit there for a few seconds, another piece materialized on the other end. He kept it.

The Boss Kettle lid was scratched. A lot.

Octavio was the farthest from the scrap, so he was fine. His headwear was forced off because of the ink.

"Where are you going to park this thing?" He yelled.

"I don't know, she's the one driving!" Agent 4 said, still holding on to the Lid.

Agent 3 dropped the wood and pulled out the communicator.

—

3

Can we park it in the woods?

2

Good idea. The trees are tall enough.

—

The Eagle turned around and flew towards the dark woods.

It came to a landing, scaring away any life nearby.

Once they all jumped off, they looked around.

"That's the Hero Brella, right?" Agent 2 asked.

"Is it? It flew into the wood I was holding." He held it outwards and the Brella opened. "Okay, it's the Brella."

"Good. Now we have five of the weapons." She turned to Octavio. "You better be careful. We're all armed."

"Hey, did anyone pay attention to which way was Inkopolis?" Agent 4 asked.

"I was busy on my communicator," Agent 3 said while shooting in a random direction with the Brella.

Octavio remained silent.

"We don't have to," Agnet 2 said, looking at a large stone nearby. "Remember this rock?" she asked.

"This is the one where we found the Wild Tentacle, right?"

"These woods?" Octavio asked.

"Yep."

"It's this way," Agent 2 said.

She took the lead, with Agent 3 behind her. He kept an eye on Octavio, who was walking like a spider with his tentacles.

Agent 4 took the rear.

A familiar gurgling sound broke the uneasy silence.

"Run!" Agent 4 said.

"It's here!" Agent 2 finished.

They all increased their speed. The light of the exit to the woods was close.

Bursting out of the woods, Agents 2 and 4 stopped and turned around. The tentacle was more cautious this time. It didn't step out of the woods.

"You can slow down," Agent 4 told the other two, "it's afraid of light."

Then they began their long walk to Inkopolis. On the way, they discussed how they would get by with Octavio. Nobody would recognize him as the Octarian leader, but having an overdeveloped octopus crawl through the city would rouse some suspicion.

"There is a simple solution," Agent 2 said.

"What?" Agent 4 asked.

"Tell him to revert back to his Octoling form."

"No," he said before allowing the other two to react.

"I knew it," Agent 3 said, while still on his communicator.

"What!? His what now?" Agent 4 asked in disbelief.

"No," he said again, but more forcefully.

They all stopped. They were close enough to jump back to Inkopolis, but Octavio had to agree first.

While Agents 2 and 4 tried to convince him, Agent 3 was discussing a new meeting place with Callie on the communicator.

—

3

There's no Outpost left.

1

I'll get in touch with the Cap'n. He might know of somewhere else.

3

Okay, thanks.

—

He looked up to find a grim looking Octoling. He was obviously elderly, but in great physical condition.

"Hmm..." Agent 3 looked at him suspiciously.

"Are we ready to jump over?" Agent 2 said slowly, making sure Octavio can hear every syllable.

Agent 3's communicator vibrated. "Give me a second."

—

1

He said we could gather at his house. Not much option, here.

3

Did you tell him about Octavio?

1

Yes.

3

And?

1

He said Octavio would be fine coming in.

3

That's odd. Let's meet at Inkopolis Tower. Bring your disguise. You can be our guide.

—

"Alright, ready."

They all jumped to the closest jump point. They all landed in an area none recognized.

"There." Agent 3 pointed at a tall tower nearby. Inkopolis Tower rose beyond the other skyscrapers.

—

Agent 1, already at Inkopolis Plaza, stared into the old studio. She spent a lot of time there, announcing stages and chatting with Marie.

"Hey! We're here!"

She spun around and tried to look natural while leaning on the railing.

"She said we would meet at the Cap'n's house."

"Really? With him?" Agent 2 said with a hint of disbelief.

He nodded.

"We're ready!" Agent 4 yelled at her.

"Okay," Agent 1 responded. "This way. Who's that?"

"Octavio."

"Oh. Right."

She squinted at him. Not that anyone could tell. She had sunglasses on.

She decided to save all of her questions so Cap'n Cuttlefish could also hear the answers.

They all departed from the old center of Inkling culture. Agents 2 and 4 walked side by side in the front while the other two did the same in the back.

This time, Agent 1 broke the silence. "Have you guys noticed there have been a lot more Octolings in Inkopolis?"

"Since when?" Agent 3 asked.

"It was like that when I got here," Agent 4 said. It was true. She arrived in Inkopolis, then it only took her a few days to find the Manhole leading to Octo Canyon.

Agent 2, being the only one there to witness, answered, "A few months now."

It clicked in Agent 3's mind. He couldn't say anything about it, though. He was on strict orders from Cap'n Cuttlefish.

Octavio, once again, stayed silent.

What was he hiding?


	32. Further Discussions

**Akashiyaki is a Japanese dish that includes octopus. That's the answer.**

—

Octavio was more than a DJ. He was also the leader of the Octarians. But why was he? Was he smart? Observant? Kind? Or was it merely the entrancing music produced by the Octobot?

Whatever the case, the Agents had to be extra careful. Even exposing a small part of their personality could put them in danger.

None of them had fully trusted the Octoling. Agents 1 and 2 still resented him for what he did to Callie. Agent 4 nearly died at the robotic hands of the Octobot King. He was still leader when Agent 3 and his sister were kidnapped.

They walked through a winding path, away from the public eye.

Agent 1 gave directions from the back.

As they approached the house of Cap'n Cuttlefish, they started to get some suspicious looks.

He was waiting on the front porch.

"Octavio..." he said. "Nice to see you like this again." He eyed him like an old friend.

He invited everyone inside.

"Spill it." Agent 3 said forcefully. "Everything."

"Now then, there's no need for that, Agent 3," he said. Turning to Octavio, he said, "I knew you'd come around again someday."

"Again?" Agent 2 asked.

He laughed. "We used to know each other quite well, you know."

"I'm here because they took me here. Nothing else."

"Really?" Agent 1 continued. "Tell us everything that happened."

Octavio sighed. "They woke me up in the middle of the night. Some traitor Octoling told me they wouldn't kill me if I helped kill you."

"Anything interesting on the Octoling?"

"Yeah, she had no shades. Only a few of the shades are actually hypnotic. The rest are for show. I would have thought all of them would be now, since Akash..." He said the name with disgust. "...is a filthy usurper. She was probably his direct subordinate because of the kelp and the uniform."

"Did they tell you anything else?" Agent 2 asked.

"If I proved to be useful, the bomb attached to the Octobot wouldn't go off."

"Were you trying to hit me?"

He remained silent for a few seconds. "No."

"Why not?" Agent 4 blurted.

"I've seen your skill with those weapons. You four are the only ones that can even get to him."

"You spared me because you wanted to kill him?"

"Now I would do anything to wrest the position from his cold, dead hands!" he yelled angrily.

"I know that tone of voice," Cap'n Cuttlefish said. "Welcome to the team."

The Agents were shocked to hear that. Agent 2 took Octavio to a different room in preparation for what was about to happen. Agent 3 soon followed.

After a few moments of silence, pandemonium ensued. Agents 1 and 4 lost any sense of restraint.

"Are you crazy, gramps?"

"He nearly killed me!"

"He nearly made me kill her. Remember what happened to me?"

—

"Look, Octavio. It sounds like you're joining. Just know that I still do not trust you." Agent 2 said menacingly.

"Same here," Agent 3 continued.

"I know. I had a feeling he would say something like that."

Agent 2 took the time to mentally recap everything involving the shades so far.

According to Octavio, most of the shades were for disguise purposes when he was in charge. Only a few were truly hypnotic.

Shades that wok on Octolings will not affect Inklings, and vice versa. That is why research on Inklings in the Lab was required to hypnotize Callie.

Now that Akash is in charge, nobody knows how many of the shades are hypnotic.

Somebody without shades recruited Octavio against his own will. She is most likely a direct subordinate or something similar.

"Octavio, do you... want to join?" Agent 3 said.

"If it means Akash loses, then so be it."

—

The Cap'n managed to calm them down, albeit with a lot of effort on his part.

He opened the door to the hallway. "You can take him back now!" he yelled.

Once he returned, all four of them kept a keen eye on the DJ.

Cap'n Cuttlefish handled the talking from here. "You know Grizzco is run by Octarians, right?"

"You've told me a lot."

"Our next target is the Salmonid Research Center. It's underwater and guarded by what is most likely a giant robotic fish."

"And?"

"Do you know of a way through?"

"Why would I? He's hidden everything from me."

"Anything to travel through the water?"

"If the fish bot is real, then that's the only thing I know of."

"That's it, then. Do any of you know how to get that thing out of the water?"

"The Eagle might be able to pick it up. Depends on its size, though," Agent 1 said.

"Where do we start looking?" asked Agent 2. "The Restricted Zone is massive."

"I think I'll be able to find that," Agent 4 said.

"One more thing," Agent 3 continued. "What are we doing with him?" He pointed to Octavio.

Cap'n Cuttlefish, not wanting to risk another outbreak, replied, "The basement is pretty safe. Some of you can guard if you want."

"I'll take the night shift," Agent 3 said. "I still have a few things to do."

"So do I," Agent 1 said.

"Guess that leaves me and Four for now," Agent 2 said.

"Oh yeah, can I have that metal plate?" Agent 3 asked.

Agent 4 handled the Boss Kettle Lid to Agent 3.

"Once we get the Hero Shot back, I'll use this,"

"For what?"

"You'll see."

—

 **Sorry for the shortish chapter. This one was hard to write. I know what I wanted to get done, but it was difficult to go about doing it without making it seem rushed.**

 **I also added a few things which I ended up delaying for later because it wouldn't seem realistic.**


	33. Basement Guardians

Agent 2 was sitting in a chair outside the basement. Agent 4, also guarding, paced around with nothing else to do.

"What do we do when we have to invade the SRC?" She asked.

"I guess somebody will have to stay behind and guard."

"Yeah, I guess."

More silence.

"Four, you've really grown."

"How so?"

"I always saw your natural talent with the weapons. It's just been uphill from there. By the way, what was that thing you did to clear the Outpost?"

"That? Oh, it was just a Splashdown after a dodge-roll. I call it Skydive."

"But how did you find out about it?"

"I... don't really know. It just came to me."

"That's good! That kind of thinking is perfect for the NSS."

"Really?" She smiled. "Thanks, Two."

"No, I should be the one thanking you. I haven't heard a word of complaint from you. And you joined knowing they're dangerous."

"It was nothing, really, but-"

"Nothing? Do you realize what you've been through? Answer me this: why did you join?"

Agent 4- No, Rose- had to think about this. Why exactly did she join the NSS?

—

"Sooooooooo...

I'll take your awkward silence as a yes?"

Rose was shocked. One of the most famous people in the world just asked her to join a secret organization to fight injustice.

Of course she would join. This was an amazing opportunity, albeit dangerous.

But, celebritiy aside, she couldn't just leave the Great Zapfish missing.

She felt a sense of duty. If she left, Marie would have to find someone else, and she would forever have to live with the fact that she was a coward.

But Rose Jaqueline wasn't a coward.

—

"I... I joined because I could help people. The Great Zapfish is vital to us. I couldn't live with sitting back."

"And that is why you're perfect for the NSS. See? I knew you were the one."

—

The things that Simon had to do were dropping off the Lid and telling Morgan that he would be absent later. She wasn't there, so he wrote a note for her. He then returned the documents to Cap'n Cuttlefsh's house.

Furthermore, he earned more money through Ink Battles.

When he had enough, he had nothing else to do, so he sat down for a quick meal.

Being alone, he overheard other people's conversations.

"Did'ja hear? They were seen again!"

"Who?"

"Those Three Musquideers! Except, well, there were four of them.

"Where were they seen?"

"Grizzco. Two of them went in, then a bit later, the third rushed in with a new one!"

"Oh. I haven't heard."

"Weird thing is, only the last two were seen running out."

"What do you reckon happened to the other ones?"

"I don't know, but the ones running out had a third guy with them!"

"How many of them are there?"

Simon was too engrossed in the conversation to notice he stopped eating and that Lie was looking right at him from a distance and awkwardly waving.

"You gonna eat that? You barely touched it."

"Gah! When did you get here?"

"I've... been waving. Didn't you see me?"

"No? Uhh..."

"What were you doing just sitting here?"

"I'll tell you tonight."

That relayed to her that it was NSS related.

"So what were you doing?" Simon asked.

"Really, all I was doing was taking a break." Right, like it wasn't just an excuse to be with him.

"Is that it?"

"...It gets tiring being three people, you know?"

"And they would be?"

"Uh... Famous Me, Not-So-Famous Me, and Secret Me."

"Oh, I get it."

"I'll see you tonight."

—

"So what was that earlier?" Agent 2 asked him during the guard time.

"The people behind me said someone saw us running into Grizzco the other day."

"Oh..."

"And they saw 'Info Boy.'"

"What? Oh no, he wasn't disguised."

"I'll notify him in the morning."

"Okay... How long do we have to do this again?"

"Until morning."

"Got it."

Silence passed.

"What was it like with the Hypno-Shades?" Agent 2 asked.

"I... don't remember a thing. My cell was separated from the rest of them. One day, they just opened the door and forced those things on me. Next thing I remember was waking up."

"Same here. Except back then, they didn't knock you out when they were taken off."

"Lucky..." he said.

Another pause.

"Did... did you really know what was at stake when you... founded Grizzco?"

He hesitated. "Yes."

"You knew that the whole city would be in danger?"

"...Yes."

"They... told you they would kill you? And- and then me?"

"...Yes."

"You picked me over Inkopolis?"

The longest pause yet.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered

"W- Wait! Don't be!" she said, taking his hand.

"Why not?" His speech slowed dramatically. "We wouldn't have to deal with Grizzco if I didn't!"

"Well, _we_ wouldn't be here if you didn't!" she countered.

"I'm-"

"Thank you," she interrupted.

"W- What?"

"I said 'Thank you.' I never got a chance earlier."

He sighed. "I'll be honest... I wouldn't have this any other way."

"Me neither."

They sat there for a while, hand in hand.

"You wanna grab dinner together tomorrow?" She asked.

"Wait, like a date?"

"Yes, dumbo, a date."

"Of course."

"You know, I'd end the chap- I mean conversation here, but there's one more thing we have to decide."

"And that would be?"

"Are we keeping this a secret?"

"We probably should until we deal with Akash."

"Agreed."

—

 **Be honest, was that night conversation a bit drawn out? 'Cause I personally feel like it was one of the best scenes I've written so far. I guess it was a bit sudden, but other than that, I liked it.**


	34. Escape and Date

Whoops, that last chapter title was all capped. Dern caps lock.

But yeah, I see what you mean about the misleading title. I couldn't think of a good one that kept it short. I'll fix it sometime later when I do think of one.

—

"Wha- Where'd he go?" asked Agent 3 as he opened the door.

"Octavio's gone?"

"Yeah, but how?"

They both cautiously descended the stairs. He was right. Octavio was gone.

"It can't be the vent," said Agent 1. "It's too high and in the center of the ceiling. All of the boxes are still where they were."

"Could it be this?" He was looking through a small window near the ceiling. "Maybe he swam to this window."

"Maybe. Anyway, it doesn't matter how. Go find the info boy. I'll alert everyone else."

—

1

Octavio's gone.

2

How?

1

We don't know. He's just not here.

4

Should we look?

1

We have no leads. There's no use. We just have to hope he won't do anything.

2

Does the Cap'n know?

1

I'll tell him.

3

Okay, I got the news over to him. He seemed fine with it.

—

Rose, as she awakened, was mortified. She dreamed of an attack on Inkopolis. As she thought, she realized this could happen. What would they do? There were only four of them and the Cap'n. What would they do? Fend off an army?

She looked out the window and saw pedaling below. She imagined it empty, devoid of life.

Her phone ringing broke the trance. It was her father.

"Rose?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"I have a problem."

"What is it?"

"I have to go near the Restricted Zone."

"What?"

"I need to get some medicine for dying patients to Inkopolis soon. I can't ignore this. Are the waters safe?"

"Not yet. When are you leaving?"

"Four days. Early morning.

That's after the drone should be done. "It'll be close, but we'll protect the boat."

She felt her father's smile, even though he was miles away. "Thank you, Rose. I trust you. Bye."

"Bye."

Her first order of business will be to alert the other members.

—

4

There's a boat heading for Inkopolis soon.

1

When?

4

Early morning in four days.

2

We should be fine by then.

—

By this time, Rose was at Ammo Knights, checking in with Sheldon.

"Production is going exactly as planned."

"Good. We need it as soon as possible. My dad is leaving for here soon."

"I'll get it to you as fast as possible.

—

"Morning, Simon. Uhh. You okay? You look tired."

"Did you read the note, Morgan? I was up all night."

"Doing what?"

"Guarding."

Before Morgan had a chance to press him for details, he collapsed on his bed.

Great. This Agent stuff is really taking it out of him. She made a mental note to interrogate him when he woke up.

—

"Hey, is everything alright?" Marie asked her cousin. "You've been up for a borderline day and you seem just fine."

"Yep, everything's just perfect!"

"You're also doing a terrible job at containing that smile. What happened last night?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Whatever. Anyway, I gotta head out. See you later."

"Bye!"

Marie was right. She couldn't contain that smile. Knowing her, she probably figured it out already.

But that wasn't relevant. What was she going to wear later?

—

Simon woke up, and it was four in the afternoon.

Last night, they decided on a simple dinner alone at a small park near Sturgeon Shipyard. Going out of town would be too dangerous because of Octarians, and going somewhere populated would result in swarming fans.

Leaving his room, he saw Morgan, who was obviously waiting for him

"What were you doing last night?"

"Guarding."

"Guarding what?"

"Octavio."

"Who's that?"

"The guy who stole the Great Zapfish."

"You took him prisoner?"

"Kinda?"

"What do you mean, kinda?"

"He's gone now. He escaped."

"Oh. Okay. As long as you're okay."

"Yeah, I am. Anyway, I gotta head out later."

"Again? What for this time?"

"Nothing, uh..."

"Eh, forget it, I'm not digging anything out of you."

—

"Hey, you showed up!" Callie said upon seeing Simon approaching.

"Of course I would. I need sleep, though. That thing last night destroyed my sleep schedule."

"You look so... casual."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not really worried about first impressions. I did a great job with that back at Octo Valley."

They talked for a bit, laughing occasionally, and enjoying each other's company.

For the most part, nothing really noteworthy happened.

Despite their best efforts, both of them had heavy weights on their multiple hearts.

They laid on a hill, watching the slow sunset.

Callie broke the sweet silence.

"My memories from the hypnosis have been coming back."

Simon remained silent.

"It's bit by bit. It's the little things that trigger it. Sometimes it's seeing a Suction Bomb, sometimes it's standing a certain way. Seeing the Inkwhip reminded me of when I made its early prototype.

"What I did was terrible. I told them everything I knew about Inkopolis. I explained every weapon type and how they worked.

"...And I loved it."

At this point, Simon interrupted.

"Wait, you what?"

"It was the shades. They broke me." A tear slid down her cheek. "They don't control, they convert. I nearly killed Rose..."

Simon didn't know how to respond.

"I hated you. I hated Inklings. I hated my family.

"And I would've done anything to destroy them.

"Every day, I had to live with this. I had to live with the fact that I hated everyone I once loved and told them enough to destroy us."

Simon had no idea that under Callie's chipper personality was a parasitic melancholy that was consuming the Callie he knew.

At that moment, he understood what the Octarians have done to her.

At that moment, he was sorry he couldn't be there.

At that moment, he know that he, too, would have to suffer from this.

At that moment, he truly understood the meaning of anger.

"Callie?" He asked.

Her response was a tearful face.

"Have you told Marie about this?"

She shook her head solemnly. "I- I tried to forget this. Push it away."

"Tell her later. She'll understand."

"But I-"

"I won't stand for this. This isn't you. The hypnotized singer on that stage? That was not you. That was a masked creation merely masquerading as you."

They looked each other in the eye.

"Callie, never regret something that you didn't do."

He hugged her tightly.

"Come back to us."

—

So this chapter took ages because I had to play through the Octo Expansion and get up to speed on all the lore.

And it was difficult. But worth it.

But anyway, I feel pretty bad about this one. Not because the chapter itself is bad, per se, but rather, it took forever and it's still normal length. Sorry, guys and gals.


	35. The Calm

**I will say now that's the only Octo Expansion "spoiler" I will include is the existance of Agent 8.**

 **So yeah, it should be fine.**

—

4

GUYS COME ON LETS GET READY

2

It's 3 in the morning.

4

He's leaving in two hours and we still need to get the Eagle over to Deep Jersey.

2

Oh carp let me get ready.

3

My sleep schedule is still demolished so I'm ready.

1

Same.

4

Watch out for the wild thing in the woods.

—

"I still need sleep..." Agent 2 said upon reaching the meeting place.

"Don't talk like that, you're driving!" whispered Agent 4 angrily.

"Where's Three?" Agent 1 asked.

"Right here, I just had to grab the Splatling. I also still have this," he said while holding up the Inkwhip.

"Alright. Test the drone," Agent 4 told him.

"I did on the way here. Its right there." He pointed to a blue contraption that flew nearby.

"Even better, it's blue. Where's the camera?"

"Below it. I can see everything on whatever this thing is."

"The same thing that controls my rover?"

He shrugged in response.

"Okay, let's get going before the Wild Tentacle catches up with us," remarked Agent 1.

The screech rattled the entire forest.

—

4

The boat is going to move slower than us, so keep that in mind.

Also make sure the Eagle is close to the boat.

2

Yeah I know I'm not an idiot.

3

Are you texting while driving?

2

...yeah you got me there.

But it's not like I can get into an accident, right?

1

Eyes on the road.

—

Agent 2 gave up on talking. The drone wasn't sent out yet, but they were above the clouds.

They still had about an hour until the boat left, but there was still quite some distance to cover.

—

"Ha ha! Royal flush! I won!"

"Four, how are you so good at this?" Agent 1 was sitting grumpily with a terrible hand.

They were playing cards inside the Eagle without their disguises on. Hey, it's something to do.

"Not only is my eyesight good, I can pay attention to things."

"There, there, you can vent it later by invading the glorified submarine," he told her with a pat on the back.

Meanwhile, Agent 3 was studying the drone because it was fascinating.

He glanced over at the generator and saw it still had about ninety percent of its power left.

"I see now why they targeted the Golden Eggs."

"Why?"

"Look at the generator! It's been at that exact percentage for an hour! And this thing is flying!"

"Oh. Why don't they use these things for phones?" Agent 1 said.

"You can do that once we take Grizzco, but we have to prioritize the Octarian society so they don't start another war. We might as well give it to Octavio."

"You trust that freak?"

"He used the number one source of power we know for dubstep. What's he going to do with some eggs?"

"That's fair."

"Hey. Agent 4 whispered. "Guess what?"

"What do you want?"

"Four of a kind, baby."

"Okay, that's it, I'm done with this game."

"Fine. Three, wanna play?"

"No. Anyway, what I was saying is that if he's going to do anything with power, it's going to be his society and music. But my question is, what's this thing's source of power?" he said, holding up the drone.

"Maybe it's another weird ink thing," suggested Agent 1.

"No, I doubt it. It doesn't need ink to send it out. It's bound to the Splatling, remember?"

"Yeah. So maybe it's the same way the specials appear."

"And that would be?"

"No clue. I don't make the weapons."

"Sheesh, I'm glad Sheldon's with us."

"Yep. We'd be fried without him."

—

2

How's the battery looking?

3

Still at 90 for some reason?

2

Sometimes I want to work a shift at Grizzco and keep an egg to myself.

1

And deal with what happened last time?

4

If they aren't properly contained, the eggs pop into a toxic fluid once a wave ends as a defense mechanism for anyone attempting to attack a colony. Thankfully, we've developed immunities to that.

I've been doing research of my own.

2

Yeah, I can tell.

—

"What else did you find on Salmonids?" Agent 1 asked.

"Cohocks are female, Chums are male. Smallfry are both- it seems to be a common hatching defect. Goldies are Chums that are treated with more care than normal."

"And how smart are they compared to us?"

"Idiots."

"Are we almost there yet?" Agent 3 interrupted.

"Spoken like a true child," Agent 1 returned.

—

4

About how much time do we have left?

2

I think we still have about half an hour.

—

"She says half an hour."

"Ugh, I wanna shoot things!"

Agent 1 looked at him weirdly. "With a Splatling? If I remember correctly, you're trash with those things."

"Then we better find the Hero Shot soon. Or the Blaster. I'm fine with those too."

"What do we do? I only brought a deck of cards," Agent 4 remarked.

"I got one. Hey, Four," Agent 1 began, "What's the one weapon type you hate dealing with in Ranked?"

"Blasters. Especially Clash Blasters. You?"

"Chargers. Do you understand how annoying that could be for Roller mains? Three?"

"Those people who rush around with Brushes...

"Well, That was short lived."

"AHHH! Its boring in here!"

"Calm down, One, we're almost there..."


	36. The Storming

I would've gotten this one out yesterday or the day before, but I had stuff to do.

—

2

I see land in the distance.

4

Stop so nobody notices us. Open the hatch so Three can send out the drone.

—

"She sees land. How's the battery looking?"

"It hit 89 five minutes ago. This thing is amazing. I'm activating the drone."

The hatch opened, and the drone whirred to life. It flew out.

—

4

The drone's out. Fly up.

—

"Alright, let's review the plan," Agent 4 suggested.

Minutes became hours as the boat slowly traversed the open sea. Nothing much happened.

"Hey, guys. I see bubbles on the screen," Agent 3 said.

"Keep an eye on it. It might be what we're looking for."

"Descend."

"What?"

"I said descend! It is what we're looking for!"

—

1

Descend.

4

Descend.

2

On it.

—

Looking back on the screen, another giant robot resembling a fish leaped out of the water. Somehow, it was larger than the Eagle.

"It's too big! We can't carry it!" cried Agent 1.

—

1

Can you pick up the boat instead.

2

Probably.

4

Drop us on the boat.

—

"What's that thing in the water?"

"So the legends are true..."

A screech filled the air to combat the roaring ocean and the looming leviathan. Its source was another metallic creature, descending from above, diving for the boat.

Fear struck the crew as the flying one changed its course and soared over them, leaving behind three people.

"Get inside!" one shouted.

"We'll handle this!"

"The Eagle is on our side!"

The ocean dweller surfaced, only to point a laser directly at Agent 3's forehead. It came from its mouth, a ray of light in a dark abyss.

A sound emanated from inside, indicating it was preparing... something.

Countless artillery weapons emerged from its mouth, all aiming for the boat.

The screech once again pierced the air as the Eagle dove for the fish. Before it could fire, the Eagle managed to grab ahold of one of its guns.

Using all of its power, the Eagle pulled it, turning the entire thing around.

"You're carrying medications, correct?" One asked.

A crew member's eyes widened in recognition. "You..."

"Can it be flown to Inkopolis?"

"Maybe. But how-"

"You mind if we give you a little boost? Just get you away from that?"

"Yes, perfect. Thank you." They could see the gleam in his eyes.

"You're with these guys? How do you know they're not with that?" another crew member asked.

"Yes, I do. They're trustworthy."

"Get us slightly closer to it." Agent 4 gave them a smile before running back out.

Agent 3 piloted the drone inside the fish's mouth carefully to avoid the guns. "There's a platform in there. It leads farther in."

—

4

Keep it above sea level for a bit longer.

2

Can't do it for long, the gun's about to rip off.

—

"Nearly there, vertical flick it, One!"

"Now!"

They swam on the fish, nearing the mouth. It struggled to submerge itself, while the strength of the Eagle kept it afloat.

"Jump!"

The three reached the mouth and jumped in.

The gun broke off, and the Eagle rocketed skyward.

The fish shut its mouth, and submerged once again.

—

4

They want the boat to be carried.

2

Okay, got it.

—

"Come on, there's one way to go, as usual," Agent 4 said.

As they opened the door, a massive expanse sprawled before them, albeit it was more vertical than horizontal.

"Welcome, New Squidbeak Splatoon, to the Piranha!"

It came from a group of speakers up above.

"Oh, there's only three of you?" A feminine figure came into view on the other side of the Piranha. "Is the Charger girl playing with her new toy?"

"What do you want!?" Agent 3 asked.

"It is you! I'm impressed. You're still fighting for them even though you were in prison for a while. Ah! Where are my manners? Eileen Octrope, at your service."

"Octrope..." Agent 1 whispered.

"My dad's caused a lot of trouble for you, huh? If anything, I've done you four a favor. I'm the one that took Octavio off your hands!"

"She isn't wearing shades," Agent 4 told them.

"Dad asked me to kill you all mercilessly and without warning. Oh, what a shame, what a shame," she said mockingly. "I can't disobey my father, can I? However, I do have some honor. I won't just kill you... but I'll give you a chance to run free."

A respawn pad appeared behind them.

"I always liked to play games. Win, and you escape with your lives. Here's the trick, though."

A glass wall slammed down, barring any connection between where they were standing and the respawn pad.

"You all only get one life. You all get splatted, you're all dead. If one of you survives, you all run free."

"You expect us to fight you three on one!?" Agent 1 yelled.

"Of course not. Do I look stupid? Actually, don't answer that.

"Rocky, Jack, come out now. We all have to abide by the same rules, so if you splat us, we're done for the match."

The large platform in front of them morphed, with some parts rising, and some falling. It created an arena similar to Arowana Mall.

"Let the games begin."


	37. Sudden Splat

"I'll take the high ground." Agent 3 said. "I got the Splatling."

"Wait, hold on! What weapons do they have?" Agent 1 asked. "They could have lasers, for all we know!"

"Let's stay back for now," suggested Agent 4. "I'll charge up the Splashdown."

Agent 3 smiled under the mask.

"Are you done over there?" Eileen didn't advance either. "We stared a while ago. Oh, and I think you might recognize these weapons."

Agent 4 was already inking nearby turf, increasing the meter. Agent 3 took the right path, rushed forward while staying on the side, and came face-to-face with one of the enemies who climbed the wall from the center. He was clutching the Hero Blaster.

He dodged forward, away from the blast, and activated the Inkwhip. Before he could swing, the enemy jumped back and landed back in the center, where he fired again.

Agent 3 backflipped and began to charge the Splatling midair. He was caught in the blast and it nearly destroyed his Hero Suit.

The enemy almost fired again, but Agent 1 swung her Roller at him, so he jumped backwards again. The other enemy, who had the Hero Brush, forced her backward with his speed.

Agent 3 had a full charge and fired at the Blaster Octoling, whose suit was destroyed. He rushed at him and flicked the Inkwhip, but he dodged it with little room for error by switching to an Octopus. He super jumped away to his teammate.

Agent 4 supported Agent 1 from higher above, but she was pinned against a corner. The Hero Brush wiped her out within seconds.

He began to retreat, but Agent 4 fell down and Skydived, but he managed to escape. Instead, she splatted the Blaster Octoling who just landed. She grabbed the Blaster before it sunk with the rest of the gear and decided to use it. Agent 4 quickly switched its ink color and strapped the Dualies to her belt.

The Brush Octoling, while avoiding the Skydive with his insane speed, also was hit by Agent 3's Inkwhip. As expected, the suit broke. Agent 3 spun around and hit him again, finishing him off. He seized the Brush, which gave him three weapons, two of which were large and hard to carry.

Eileen sighed through the speakers. "I expected that to not last long. What I didn't expect was for them to actually splat one of you. Well, it's my turn now."

By this time, Agent 3 dropped the Splatling far back, near the base, so he could use the Hero Brush instead.

"You're not the only one with two weapons, Agent 3."

Standing in the center was an entirely armored Octoling with the Hero Shot in her right hand. In her left hand was another Inkwhip, purple and active.

The two remaining Agents came to a silent agreement to split up and surround her.

Agent 4 went left, Agent 3 went right.

Eileen aimed the Hero Shot at Agent 3, who was using the Brush to quickly approach. She jumped with incredible height and landed on the other side of the arena. Agent 4 was caught off guard by the unexpected appraoach and fired the Blaster, damaging the armor, but not breaking off a piece.

She swung her Inkwhip, breaking off the Hero Suit. Her helmet broke off as another Blaster shot hit her. She flicked the other weapon backwards.

By this time, Agent 3 was behind her, mercilessly swinging the Inkwhip at her. Another piece broke off, but Agent 4 was splatted by the Hero Shot.

Agent 3 was hit by her Inkwhip and his suit broke. He retreated to the side, where a wall separated them.

Eileen inevitably followed, but he was ready. Agent 3 jumped up clutching the Brush and drove its butt end into her head, knocking her down and giving him the boost he needed to retreat and recover. He sprinted back to the base, where the other two were waiting.

"Three, you got this," Agent 1 began. "You only have one piece of armor left, then the suit.

He nodded in response.

By this time, Eileen was standing. Both Inkwhips were off now- they made noise and neither wanted to reveal their location.

Agent 3 put down the Brush in favor of the Splatling's range.

He began to charge a flurry of shots and hid off to the right. Predictably, Eileen followed from the other. She walked quietly, preparing to shoot.

Eileen, approaching the place she saw him last, activated her Inkwhip. She heard a string of shots to her right and jumped down to engage.

She swung the whip at the source of the noise with lightning fast speed.

A Splatling dropped in front of her without a wielder.

Smiling, she began to walk back to the base. The NSS has fallen.

—

"We won." The sound came from the speaker. It resonated within the chamber and within their minds.

With those two words, Agent 4 was enraged. Them, lose? It was never meant to happen! She began to furiously pound on the reinforced glass.

Agent 1, on the contrary, fell to her knees, sobbing.

—

Agent 3 was still standing. He took the pathway leading to the middle silently, but stayed out of sight. He waited for her to pass the middle.

With one swift movement, he jumped over her, activated his Inkwhip, and brought it down, breaking the last piece of armor. She began to fire at him, but he transformed into a squid, swam under her, and jumped out, only to swing once more.

Twice more.

It was over. The glass wall rose, uniting the three again. Agent 3 grabbed both weapons before they sunk.

He jumped back to spawn only to check on the others. He found two confused Inklings, taken aback with what they saw.

"No," Agent 3 began. "We won."

"You- you did it!" Agent 1 broke into laughter and hugged him.

"How did you do that?" asked Agent 4.

"What?"

"Get her to think she won?"

"I charged the Splatling and dropped it down. She was too fast to realize I was never there."

"Okay," Agent 1 said, "We got three more weapons back."

"That makes eight," Agent 4 added, "Only the Slosher is left."

"And we have another one of these!" He produced the other Inkwhip from his pocket. "Careful, I haven't changed this thing's ink color yet." He gave it to Agent 1, who changed it for him.

"Hey, this thing is pretty cool!"

"Wait!" Agent 3 pointed to the top of the Piranha. "Why is the top open?"

Five figures shot upwards and exited the beast.

"There were five of them?" Agent 1 asked.

"I guess the others were driving?" Agent 4 suggested

"Let's go. I guess this thing is piloted from the back."

—

The control room was surprisingly simplistic.

"This thing doesn't look that hard to control," remarked Agent 4.

"Then you use it," Agent 1 said, "I have no clue what any of this does."

"Guys," Agent 3 was staring into a screen. "Are we near Inkopolis?"

"That battle did take a while," Agnet 4 said. "We might."

The Piranha was surfaced, so they left. Its mouth easily let them reach the deserted coast.

Agent 2 raced for it once she saw her comrades.

"What happened in there?"

—

 **Okay, does** ** _anybody_** **know how water works in this universe? 'Cause Callie claimed to have modeled swimsuits at Mahi Mahi Resort, but swimming is lethal to them, and water is practically required for things to survive, and squids are aquatic creatures, and maybe I'm overthinking this?**


	38. Square Antics

**To Sunny211: I see where you're coming from with the request to ship Rose and Sid. They do have obvious chemistry. I would, honestly, but sorry, I can't do that, because Rose is still 14, and Sid would realistically have to be somewhere in his 20s. I doubt they would hire teens to be backstage during a concert except for maybe Simon. The age gap would be too awkward. Sorry again tho.**

—

Simon, exited to have the Hero Shot back, visited Ammo Knights.

"Ah, I see you got another weapon back," Sheldon noticed.

"Not one. Three! We got the Brush and the Blaster as well."

"Where are they?"

"We took them back to the Cap'n's."

"And what did you do with this robotic fish I heard of?"

"Rose found a remote inside. It's far below sea level. The remote can, apparently, bring it back up."

"Okay, Great. Now, back to business. What do you want me to do with that?"

"The sub weapons. Can you please add Poison gas and Burst Bomb? I'll keep the Splat Bomb. Here are some eggs. What do you do with these anyway?"

"These are Zapfish Eggs, correct? They also provide electricity, though they are not as powerful as Golden Eggs. They're also easier to extract power from. I need power to apply the sub weapons and some to survive. It should be done by tomorrow."

"Ah. I see. Thanks, Sheldon!"

The girls were waiting for him outside.

Inkopolis was undergoing its usual bustle, with mixed groups of Octolings and Inklings mingling.

Rose, once again, was furiously mashing buttons at the Squid Beatz 2 machine.

Heads turned her way as she shouted and cheered in triumph.

"Rose, that's only a silver," Rie pointed out to her.

"But it's the Inkantation! Do you understand how annoying that one is?"

"Yeah, don't be like that, Marie, spend your precious little free time wisely," Lie chided.

"I spent some time and cleared my schedule because I'm going to need as much free time as possible for you-know-what. And don't say my name!" she whispered aggressively.

"Hey, S," Lie said, changing the topic. "What did you plan to do with that lid thing?"

"The metal Kettle lid? I'm going to use that as a shield."

"Ohhhh..."

"It would only work with the shooter because I'm not using two Dualies with one hand, Blasters have too much recoil, and every other weapon needs two hands. Oh yeah, the Shot's supposed to be done tomorrow."

"You can use shooters with one hand?" Rose inquired.

"I get a lot of practice. Aim is no problem for me now. Sheesh, I remember when I first got here. I could use shooters only. Anything else I failed at. Miserably."

"You still do," Lie chuckled.

"Hey! I can kinda sorta maybe use Rollers," Simon said, slinking away.

"Suuuuuure... You wanna show me?"

"Only if you use a Charger."

"Let's pick each other's weapons!"

"Rose," Rie said flatly. "I recommend watching instead of actually playing with them. She can't use a Charger to save her life."

"What about Simon?"

She laughed softly. "This will be good."

—

Rose and Marie were settled at Wahoo World, intently absorbing every detail of the Turf War playing out in front of them. They were remarkably closer to their friends' side, so they could hear every word.

"You had to give me the Dynamo! Why this one? You know how I am with slow weapons!"

"Yeah, and you gave me the E-Liter! The scope-less one!"

"That's fair!"

Their other teammates were an Octoling boy and another Inkling girl. They were brandishing a Tri Slosher and an Aerospray, respectively.

30 seconds remained. Simon was sent back to spawn by an opposing Explosher, while Lie was desperately aiming at anything she could from her painfully far behind perch, sometimes accidentally shooting a teammate.

The Octoling seemed timid, with his attacks being quite weaker than usual and tendency to hide or retreat often.

The last player avoided enemy confrontation and inked turf away from the action.

With ten seconds left, the team made a desperate final push.

...It deflated miserably with an enemy Blaster wiping them all.

—

"So? How'd the match go?" Rie asked, waiting outside the tower.

"Terrible. We lost 20 to 67," Lie responded upon her swift approach.

"Yeah, And I got banned for a few days..." Simon interlocked his hands and tried to look innocent.

"Yeah, me too..."

"What did you do this time?" Rose asked.

He nervously placed his hand behind his head. "I, erm, instinctively used my weapon to launch myself away. More than once. Like I did with the Brush earlier..." He half smiled and winced. "Apparently that's illegal?"

Lie laughed. "And you launched your bombs by swinging it at them."

Rose pulled Rie aside and whispered, "Are they always like this?"

She seemed confused. "No, actually. Last time this happened, Cal was too embarrassed to leave the apartment. She was even disguised like now. Hold on, let me just..."

She left, leaving Rose to follow.

"Hey, what happened? You're seeming more upbeat. Like, more than usual. Was it the pep talk from a few days ago?"

"The what now?" Rose interrupted.

"N-no. It's not that," Lie replied with a hint of nervousness, clasping her hands together as if to hide something.

"Yeah, it's nothing," Simon finished, grinning uncontrollably.

"How would you-" Rie began. One look at their faces was all it took, and hers relaxed. "Oh... I see what happened."

Nothing could restrain them both from bursting into laughter again.

"Okay, fine, I won't tell anyone," Rie reassured them, leaving Rose in the dark.

"Tell anyone what?" Rose felt like a curious child, asking her parents everything.

"Nothing, you're too young to understand," Rie said, resting her hand on her forehead.

"I- What?" That didn't help her inner child.

"We'll explain... sometime, when this is over. Now's not the time."

Rose sighed, defeated, and followed her friends into the tower for another battle.


	39. Attack and Defence

**I think I found something on water. Apparently they don't sink or anything. They just dissolve. They don't even dissolve like a solid. It's instantaneous, implying they're made of liquid, but how did a solid creature evolve into a liquid? And they don't act like a liquid, which is even worse? Somebody help me I am more confused now.**

—

"Come on, Rose," Rie said with a sly grin. "Let's show them how it's done."

"How about we kick it up a notch? Let's go to Ranked."

"I like how you think. Pick a weapon."

The other two entered the tower and veered left and down a small flight of stairs into the spectator room. It would let them jump to a specified match and watch from there. Being banned from battle didn't stop then from watching.

"I've... actually never been in here before," Simon realised.

The room was a dome, with many closed holes in the roof. Six were open, leading to each open stage.

"This one," Lie was at a panel off to the side, showing the levels, weapons, and faces of each battler in each match.

"New Albacore Hotel? Is that one new?"

"I guess? Let's go."

Both jumped in unison out of the lowest hole in the dome.

"Yep, it is new," Simon said upon landing.

"Whoa, this one is huge."

"They seriously picked Ranked? They must be pretty confident."

—

"Don't pick that clam up. I have a plan." said Rose, stopping her. "We both have nine clams. Throw me one later. Follow me."

Rose used her Octobrush, which was gathering dust for a while, to rush to the enemy base. The sheer size of the stage mage the trek easy. Her ally followed with a Slosher in hand. Neither had a Super Clam, so their positions were hidden.

"Now!"

Rie emerged from the trail of ink and hurled a clam at Rose, enabling the creation of a Super.

She, in turn, threw it at the basket, breaking the barrier and dropping the counter to 80.

—

"That's a good strategy," Lie remarked. "I'll have to use that sometime."

"Those two are always full of battle plans. They'd make great tacticians."

"They're also really good in battle," she said.

"That's true, but imagine if they commanded an entire army."

"Like that's gonna happen, there are four of us, Gramps, and Sheldon."

"But what if, though? I'd trust them as my superiors. Heck, one of them already is!"

"Not quite at this point. You dodge-rolled earlier, without any Dualies, and with a Dynamo," she said, obviously impressed.

"So did you. It got us banned, though," he stifled a laugh.

"See? We're all pretty much equal in terms of skill."

"Even Rose? She hasn't been here for long, and she's still 14."

"She still has much to learn, but-"

"Don't we all?" he interrupted.

"Yeah, but what I'm trying to say is she has tons of natural talent for battle. Did she tell you about Skydive?"

"I've seen it. Three times, now."

"She thought of that by herself!"

"She did?" Simon was surprised. "Wow..."

"Wow is right," Lie replied.

—

"We won! That worked!"

"That plan is another reason you're part of the team."

They met with their friends outside, waving them over.

"See?" Rie said. "That's how it's done. Neither of us are banned, either."

"Shut up," Lie said.

"Anyway, I'm ready to head back," said Rie.

"Same. What about you two?"

"I'll stick around for a while," Rose said. "Simon?"

"Me too. You guys go on ahead."

Rose found a quiet and deserted place near the tower. She called her father.

"Hello? Rose?"

"Dad! How'd the trip go?"

"Really well. We made it days before the scheduled time. My, uh, colleagues told everyone why we were so early."

"That's fine. Practically everyone in Inkopolis knows about us already anyway."

"You're going to be all everyone talks about!"

"When do you have to leave?"

"Not for a while," he said. "We were so early, we're miles ahead of schedule! If you want me to visit, I can."

"Sorry, I have my plate full. I'll be gone for the majority of tomorrow, too."

"No, no, it's fine. I understand."

"Okay then. I'll see you sometime. Bye!"

—

The two cousins took a walk in a random direction, aiming to unwind and relax.

The sight was filled with buildings, buildings, and even more buildings.

"Nobody's around, right?" Callie said, removing the disguise. Marie soon followed suit.

They were going through a smaller part of town. It was completely empty because most were at their jobs or school.

"Am I right?" Marie blurted.

"About what?"

"You. And Simon."

"Uh." Callie was blushing now. "Yeah?" She smiled nervously.

"You didn't do a good job of hiding it..."

"Rose still doesn't know."

"She's 14, what do you expect?"

"I don't know..."

Suddenly, Marie put her hand out, blocking Callie. "Quiet," she whispered.

A sound emerged from an alley in front of them. Someone was getting attacked.

They quietly approached the alley, not knowing how many attackers there were.

Two Octolings, male and female, stood over an unconscious body.

The worst part? They had Hypno-Shades.

"There's only two of them," Callie whispered.

"They have stronger weapons." Bold held an Octo Shot.

One Octoling lifted a phone to her ear. "We got 'im, Commander."

"Great. Take him back." Akash's voice.

"Come on," Callie whispered.

They soundlessly crept up behind them. All they had to do was remove the shades.

Marie yelled, grabbing their attention, and punched one in between the eyes, breaking the shades. He fell.

Callie kicked the other one in the stomach, and she fell. Before she could react, Callie pulled the shades off, knocking her unconscious.

"Hello?" The phone whirred to life. "What happened? Are you-"

Marie drove her heel into the phone, destroying it. She threw it into a nearby dumpster. "Get the others," she told Callie, who fished her phone from her pocket. "We can't tell the police or this whole thing will be leaked to the public."

"Whoa, wait, that's Sid!"

"It is? Oh, carp..." she checked him. "He's alive, thank cod."

Later, a reticle appeared around Marie. She sidestepped it as Simon landed.

"What happened?" he said.

"Sid was attacked," Marie replied.

"Are those Shades?"

"Yeah."

"Should we take the Octos?"

"We can't leave them here!"

"Gramps is close. We'll take 'em there," Callie said.

They each took a body, desperately hoping nobody sees them.

Another reticle appeared after they took off.

Rose landed, and before she could ask,

"We'll explain later."

If anybody saw, they'd be reported to the police. If the public knew, Akash would attack.

Each of them sprinted through the empty street, straining their bodies, running like the fate of Inkopolis depended on it.

"We're here!" Marie yelled.

Rose pounded on the door. "Come on, come on..."

"Now what's all this knocking abou-"

He couldn't finish his sentence, as they barreled in, panting.

"Whew," Rose said. "We're safe. Now what happened?

"See for yourself," Callie pointed.

"Sid?"

"Yeah, he was attacked by those two. They had shades."

"Akash is invading Inkopolis now?"

"I guess. Things are really ramping up. We'll have to be extremely careful from now on."

"Guys," Simon said. "He's waking up."

Sid groaned as he forced his eyelids open.

"Sid?" Marie asked. "You okay?"

He tried to stand, but Simon kept him down. He clutched his forehead. "My weapon..." he lifted a Splattershot. "It wouldn't do anything."

"They had suits. They absorb tons of shots from normal ink," Callie said. "Just rest for now."

"Agh, my head... What did they do?"

"They knocked you unconscious," Marie explained, pointing at the Octolings. "They shouldn't be dangerous now, we removed the Shades."

Sid flared at the forms with disdain.

"Don't blame them, Sid," Callie said. "They weren't acting on their own will."

He sighed. "I thought I could defend myself."

"There were two of them and one of you," Marie said. "And you didn't have a suit."

"Hey," Rose began, "what's you main weapon class?"

"Brush..." He moaned. "Why?"

"Is it alright if I give him this?" Rose asked Cap'n Cuttlefish. He nodded in agreement.

"Here," She held out the Hero Brush. "It'll be a lot easier to fight with this."

"Really?" He was beginning to recover. "Aren't these, like really special?"

"You need it more than we do."

He stared at the Brush like it was some holy article. "Thanks," he said, taking it. "Things are getting serious now, huh?"

She nodded solemnly. "Just remember to not use it in a Turf War or something," Rose continued. "You'll probably get banned for a month or so."

"I won't."

—

 **I may not be able to update for a while. I might be able to squeeze another chapter in, I might not. So no, I will not be dead for a while. Hopefully.**

 **Update: I'm almost done people, woo! I'll try to get the next one done tomorrow or the next day. Oh, and I'm not dead.**


	40. Longing

**AAAAAAnd I'm back, people! Sorry for the delay, but I had stuff to do that I won't get into because privacy reasons.**

—

"Who are you? Where are we?" The demanding voice came from the male Octoling, who was pointing his weapon at them. His ally was doing the same.

"Oh, hey, you're awake," Rose said. "We found you two unconscious, so we decided to bring you here."

The other Octoling said something in Octarian. "Mag chela starvan?"

"What do you want from us?" her partner translated.

"What do mean?" Simon continued. "We brought you here so you can be safe. We're not asking for anything."

"You're Inklings! You must want something!" He scowled. "Information, weapons, what is it?"

"No," Rose flatly. "We're just trying to help you. Anything you need, a drink, food, maybe a bandage or something?"

The statement provoked a look of utter confusion on his face. He said to the other, "Chela a heralda."

"Shah."

"This can't be right," he said, "You're all monsters, all of you!"

"Oh..." Callie said. "Propaganda. That's what happened. Their entire lives, they were taught we were bloodthirsty monsters, robbing them of any chance they had at a life on the surface. Some of us still are..."

"What?" Rose asked. "Where did you hear that?"

"N-never mind, not now..." she put her head down in sorrow.

"You two feeling alright?" Marie said, changing the subject. "If so, you can leave, if you want. The exit door is right there." She pointed.

Without warning, they bolted toward the door, nearly breaking it down. They left in a heartbeat.

Rose stood up, but Marie stopped her. "We don't want to scare them any more."

"Are they gone now?" Cap'n Cuttlefish called from the other room.

"You can come out now, Gramps," Marie called.

"You okay, Cal?" Simon said, scooting over to comfort her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just... remembered something..." She leaned on Simon. "Octavio's gonna have a hard time ending the war. They'll protest. Call for more fighting. Some won't rest until we're all dead."

"Did you just remember this now?"

"It's being taught in schools," Callie continued, avoiding the question. "Hung up on posters. Any chance they get. How are we going to undo decades of prejudice?"

"I..." Cap'n Cuttlefish started. "I don't know."

"We should focus on Akash first," Rose replied. "Maybe once they're free from the shades, they'll see us in a new light."

"You think we're actually going to fight him?" Marie asked. "Remember what Octavio said about his tentacles? Three were cut off."

"Probably," Simon said. "You know how much technology they have. It's... impressive, really. They might have him in a death wheelchair or something."

"Sometimes," Callie interrupted, still leaning on Simon, "it feels like they're holding back. Why don't they arm everyone with an Inkwhip?"

"They're harder to use than it looks," Simon explained. "They'll most likely arm the rest of them with normal weapon classes. Our weapons are superior to theirs in almost every way. Most of the time, once the suit's gone, they're gone."

"I hope we got those weapons back in time," Marie said. "They're powerful, and if they're mass-produced, we're in trouble."

"Can't do much about it now, can we?" Rose forced a laugh. "We just have to hope. But why aren't they attacking Inkopolis? They have the numbers, the people, the tech."

"Too much tech," Simon replied. "But they're waiting for something. Akash seems to want to attack when he has a guaranteed victory. What it is, I don't know."

"New Squidbeak Splatoon," Cap'n Cuttlefish began, "you're up against some tough odds. I wish I could be out there, defending Inkopolis as well, but time made me weak. It's time for the the younger generation to take over. I can only wish you good luck."

The sun began to set when they left the house.

"Look there," Marie pointed at Inkopolis Tower, with the sun shining behind it. "That's what the Octarians want. To live on the surface. To see the sun, with its radiant glow in all of its beauty. We have to make it clear that our only enemy is Akash and his children. We need to give them another chance."

"Wow, Marie," Callie said, breaking the mood, "I didn't know you could speak like that."

"Me neither," she replied, immediately looking down. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"What's the plan tomorrow?" Rose asked. "

"I get my weapon first," Simon answered. "Then you use that remote of yours to bring the Piranha back up. We'll find the SRC from there. We should do it early."

This puzzled Marie. "But we still have the problem of the Restricted Zone, right? It's not any smaller."

"I think," Rose replied, "there's a radar. It should be able to find a structure of that size and shape. The question is what we do when we get down there."

"Same thing we've been doing," Callie said. "Fight and win."

"Then it's settled," Marie said. "We'll meet tomorrow at sunrise?"

—

 **Again, sorry for the short chapter, but I just couldn't find a way to divide it's smoothly. I'll make up for it in the next one.**

 **Mainly because it will be the most plot crucial chapter by far.**


	41. Four

**So I suggest reading this chapter slowly to take in every detail.**

—

Agent 4 stared intently at the radar while the Piranha practically piloted itself. "This is too easy to pilot. Like, suspiciously easy."

"Better for us, then," responded Agent 2. "More time for us to find what er're looking for." The massive submarine approached the ocean floor.

"Which is?"

"Anything that's connected to the system. Also, we need to clear the place out so it's safer."

A nearby window revealed the secrets of the Restricted Zone. The other two were absorbing every detail.

Salmonids helplessly chased the foreign object by swimming through the sea, intending to add it to the ever-growing list of destruction. A few stayed behind, possessing the little intelligence needed to know it was useless. They were quickly out of sight due to the weak light emanating from the Piranha and the mysterious colored water.

Countless metal scraps littered the sand. Yet another group of Salmonids gathered them to assemble more machines.

A plethora of Golden Eggs moved in a uniform direction, propelled by what seemed to be nothing.

"What's the point of harvesting Eggs from Boss Salmonids if there are plenty out there?" asked Agent 1.

"Three reasons," Agent 3 said. "One, Salmonids are dangerous, and Grizzco's is actually serving a dual purpose by, well, actually protecting Inkopolis. Any longer without Grizzco, and the city would be overrun. The Salmonids have been pushed back, and the city is safe for now. Once we take the company, we'll have to continue Salmon Run ASAP."

"Gramps can help with that."

"Turning Starboard!" Agent 4 said. "I-is that what they say in submarines?"

"Two," Agent 3 continued, "if they took too many eggs, it could endanger Salmonids. Then there would be no more eggs.

"Three, harvesting from Boss Salmonids means that the three eggs they have aren't that necessary to their survival. They're using them to power their own machines, so it's not that important," he took a deep breath. "And that's all."

"Can I try that shield of yours?" said Agent 1, changing the topic. He handed her the lid, to which she replied, "Wow, this thing is lighter than it looks."

"I know, right? Hey, have you tried the Inkwhip yet?"

"Yeah," Agent 1 replied, "you're right. It is hard to use."

"Hmm. I don't know. It seems like I kept the training I got when I had the shades on. How are you using that thing?"

She shrugged. "Just swinging it, I guess."

He jumped up and swung his Inkwhip a few times himself in order to actually know what he is doing rather than relying on instinct.

"So you have to keep control of your wrist..."

—

By the end of the impromptu lesson, Agent 1 could swing the weapon well, but couldn't spin for another quick swing or use it midair.

"I'm picking up something on the radar," Agent 4 said. "I think we found it."

They could see nothing out the window. The water was darker in the area, and being in the back didn't help matters.

The Piranha maneuvered itself into the moon pool, where it was picked up by more heavy machinery.

"It moved itself again?" Agent 4 said incredulously.

They stepped off of the Piranha and saw the entire weapon for the first time. The contraption was shaped like a round fish, slightly wider than Arowana Mall.

"Listen, we're not here to kill, which is why we didn't blow it up, but if we have to fight, so be it," Agent 2 said.

They stepped into a hallway, and the lights immediately flickered and shut off.

"They know we're here," whispered Agent 3.

They slowly traversed the hallway, which deviated into many other rooms which they didn't have time to explore. The light activated again.

"They're messing with us," Agent 1 said.

A familiar gurgling sound reached their ears from the scattered speakers.

"No..." Agent 4 muttered.

"They control it now?" Agent 2 said. "That's why it wasn't in the forest..."

"We need to be careful," Agent 4 explained, "this thing is smart and has the home turf advantage."

The lights shut off, once again leaving them to their weak natural bioluminescence.

They reached the end of the hallway, where yet another round platform suspended over a pit resided.

Their new enemy, the forest dweller, appeared from an overhang above them as the lights turned on once again.

Without wielding any weapon or piloting any vehicle, the Wild Tentacle jumped down, flinging its purple saliva in every direction.

It had the knowledge of an Inkling or Octoling but the instints of a wild animal.

The creature was foaming at the mouth, covering the floor in a dark purple coat.

"Split!" Agent 4 yelled as the lights turned off again.

It's eyes gave a faint glow, but it was otherwise unseeable. It chased after Agent 4, with her being the only one to make noise.

Agent 4 backed up and was near the pit. She dodge-rolled to the side, but the Wild Tentacle lost all of its speed immediately and turned to devour someone else. She immediately began to shoot it, but it was immune to ink. Instead, it used the force of the shots to propel it elsewhere.

Agent 2 tried to shoot it, but missed. The darkness faltered her pin-point accuracy. She threw a Point-Sensor to support her teammates. Thankfully, it detected the beast and circled it.

Agent 3, which was close to it by now, tried the Inkwhip, but even that didn't affect it. He held up his shield as it clung to it. Agent 1 came from the side and pushed it back with the Roller.

"Hey, Ugly!" Agent 4 called. "Over here!" It turned, teeth ready, and ran toward her. She waited until the last second to dodge roll.

As it stopped again, Agent 2 shot it to distract it. Agent 3 swam to it, jumped out, and shoved his shield into it, catching it off guard. He fought its straength, struggling to push it off the edge.

Finally, he heard the familiar sound of a Roller charging towards him. He sidestepped out of the way and threw a bottle of Poison Gas at the beast, slowing it down. It was shot by Agent 2 again, then Agent 1 batted the Roller into it. The force of the impact knocked it into the wall, where it soon fell.

"Was... that it?" Agent 2 asked. "That was too easy."

The gurgling sound was heard from down below. The Wild Tentacle used its suction cups to climb the wall, something only it could do.

Instead of responding, the four silently came to the same conclusion: water.

By this time, their eyes has somewhat adjusted to the darkness. The hallway was still open, so Agent 4 sent a Curling Bomb through it. As they all swam through, the creature followed.

Once again, Agent 2 threw a Point-Sensor at it. Agent 1 tried to hit it, but it stood its ground. It stared to run after Agent 4, But she dodge-rolled backwards and sent a stream of ink at it.

Agent 3 threw himself at it, separated by only the shield. Agent 1 did the same, adding to the strain put on the creature. Agent 4 threw a Splat Bomb, aiming to launch it into the moon pool

He dropped another bomb, aiding the other one.

The bombs propelled the Wild Tentacle into the water, and it was no more.

The lights turned on again to commemorate their victory.

Four Inklings slowly and quietly traversed the hallway once again. They looked up.

The voice of Akash came from high above, not amplified by any speaker. "Don't ya see?" He was turned away, the cloak still hiding his true self.

"You all deserve this." Not even the Charger could reach him. "You take our land, force us underground, and have the guts to come back down and take our hope. You. The fourth one. Did you know what you were fighting for when the second one told you to?"

"The-"

"The Great Zapfish." He didn't let her finish. "There are tons of other ways to power the city. Ever heard of wind, solar, hydro?

"But no. You couldn't let us have a little bit of a chance. Two years ago, when the Great Zapfish was stolen for the first time, we were happy. The electricity it produces was enough to keep us running for months, even though it was there for so little time.

"That power eventually ran out. We used it on more technology, more weapons to let us take back what's ours.

"It wasn't just electricity. Once we were forced underground, air was another problem. Sometimes, someone would go out, desperate for a breath. Most of the time, they didn't come back.

"So then I planned ahead. I got the Hypno-Shades activated so the Octolings would follow me. I used eggs to power more weapons." By this point, he dropped the Mr. Grizz accent.

"And I got my legs back." He threw off the cloak, finally revealing who he was. He couldn't be more than 25, though he had the voice of someone much older. His tentacles were neat and organized. He wore the coat of a war general, most likely taken from a real one.

Most noteworthy, however, were his legs. They were purely mechanical, having all of the functions of a real one and more. His right was similar, bearing a metallic sheen, glowing yellow in various places.

"I will take the city. I will enslave you. And when I deactivate the Hypno-Shades on the Octolings, I'll be a hero. They'll see."

"When three of you first invaded the Lab, I didn't expect it. Foolish of me, really. All of the obstacles you've met until now had two purposes. One, to try and kill you. Two, if it failed, we knew you were stronger.

"You could move stealthily in an enclosed area. You escaped a bomb. You freed someone trapped in Grizzco. You even beat three of my kids. You didn't fail. If you did, even once, you died."

"When I enslave Inklings, they'll obey. They'll follow blindly. And they'll love it. All because of these."

He produced four pairs of Hypno-Shades, which he held in his mechanical arm. It was like they appeared from nowhere.

"And you four will be the first.

The door leading to the hallway slammed shut.

"Your timing really is impeccable. If you came here a few days ago, we would have killed you. But I recently changed my mind about that."

He jumped down, and while he was midair, the lights came off. He didn't glow like they did.

From then on, the lights flicked on occasionally.

He was in front of them. No, to the left, no, above. He was too fast.

Suddenly, the lights flickered to show Agent 1 wearing a pair of Hypno-Shades.

"One," he said.

Where was he? Where to shoot? Up, down, left.

Before they could reach Agent 1, who was now standing still, the lights flickered again, revealing Agent 2 also had her sunglasses suddenly switched.

"Two."

Agent 3 jumped as high as he possibly could.

"Three."

Agent 4 was the only one left. The lights were on now. She knew it was useless. Running to them was useless, shooting was useless, doing nothing was useless. Seconds passed slowly, leaving her frozen in place. They wane don't them here, they wanted them to reach this place, only so they could fail. It's why the Piranha was so easy to pilot, why it docked itself. He was leaving her alone for now, letting her stare into the faces of the people she called her friends. Their blank expressions shot into every place she could feel, mocking her, telling her to do something, anything to help.

But it was useless.

The word never reached her ears, but it echoed throughout her last moments of consciousness.

 _Four._


	42. Awareness

—

Name: DJ Octavio

Date: No clue.

Subject: I've been captured

An Octoling who said she was Eileen broke me out of the snow globe. Oddly, she had no shades. She put me in the original Octobot King and made me fight the NSS. I didn't try because they were my only chance at escape and revenge on Octrope. The Octobot King blew up, but they got me out of there in time. They stuck me in a basement, where I'm typing this on my tablet they didn't bother to look or ask for. I'm currently hiding in a box, where I will wait until morning.

—

Name: DJ Octavio

Date: Still no clue.

Subject: I'm watching from the city.

I'm still on the lookout for anything that could be a threat. I stole an unsupervised Blaster. It's weak, but it's better than nothing. I'm watching for anything on the outskirts of the city. So far I have only seen the Eagle take off for the ocean. I do not know what it is doing.

—

Name: DJ Octavio

Date:

Subject:

The secret rooms in the Sky Base should be safe. I can watch and gather information from there. I'll head to the forest and find the camouflaged Kettle.

—

"Sir," the Octoling addressed him in Octarian. "You wrote these?"

"Yeah. You needed to know. How'd you get here?" Octavio asked.

"Four random Inklings saved us from the Hypno-Shades," said the female one. "Barry and I, both of us."

"Linda's right, sir," the other one confirmed. "They said we mugged a fifth in an alley. We don't know why." They were the two that the Squid Sisters rescued. Their names were Barry and Linda.

"Don't know why what?" Octavio responded

"Why they saved us."

"Listen," he said, "while I was down there, I learned that almost none of the Inklings know of our condition down here. Most didn't even know we existed until some of us escaped to the surface. So drop the prejudice and help me with Akash."

"General Octavio, you should see this, I just found it," another one said.

There was a structure suspended high above the ocean, too far up to cast a notable shadow and too far from land to be seen. It was aptly named the Sky Base, the true center of Octarians. Between the labyrinth of rooms hid many rooms that were only accessible by a few Octolings.

There are multiple ways to reach the Base. The top of it doubles as a platform for any flying craft to land on. There are many Kettles arranged throughout Inkopolis and beyond. All are hidden in various ways, whether it be through camouflage, a rotating wall, or anything in between. Each require a password to activate. It then flew to the Base and returned once the occupant left.

There is one Kettle, however, hidden and camouflaged in the forest. This one was the Kettle only Octavio and his most trusted subordinates knew of. It lead straight to the hidden chambers of the base.

Barry and Linda were found and captured before they could reach a secret entrance.

"Alright, let me see."

"It looks like an audio file of the speech Akash gave after you were captured."

The nearby floor opened to allow the secret Kettle through.

"General Octavio!" exclaimed the Octoling who jumped out.

"What is it?"

"Inkopolis is being attacked!"

Almost all of the resistance was out, blending in with the army. That meant they were out attacking Inkopolis as well.

"Get everyone here to find any way to disable the knockout when the Shades are broken." He grabbed a nearby weapon, which was stronger than the ones in Inkopolis. "I'm heading out."

"General, are you sure?"

Before he could respond, the Kettle was gone.

—

Callie was at the Research Center. She was still behind her mask. His speech was... She didn't realize the true position of the Octarians.

"And you four will be the first," he said.

She saw Akash jump off of the balcony high above. The lights went out.

She realized he didn't emit a faint glow, like they did.

The lights flickered. He was there, no behind you, no, in front of you.

She felt her glasses pulled off of her face, then, in an instant, replaced with something else.

Then, she was aware of that something being pulled off. Or was it broken? She squinted in the sudden sunlight.

She was pushing her Roller, something that she didn't remember doing.

Inkopolis. The outskirts. That's where she was. But why? What happened?

She remembered Akash, pulling out the Hypno-Shades.

Realization struck her. Her limbs grew heavy, but whether it was from that realization or fatigue, she didn't know.

She was hypnotized. Again.

It was like a jump in time, without awareness of what happened during the time the shades were on.

The first thing she saw was a figure pulling her arm, trying to get her to go somewhere. She was too tired to resist, or even walk. The figure picked her up, and she dropped her Roller.

She lifted her head, despite the difficulty, and saw fighting.

Octolings, each with their own pair of shades, pushed against the tide of the citizens, squids and octopi alike. No Octoling with a pair of Shades was defeated. She saw a respawn pad, where three stood guard. She saw someone respawn, where one of the three forced yet another pair of Shades on him.

She heard the familiar sounds of ink being shot, flung, or otherwise propelled, but without knowing from where. Or was it everywhere?

She saw weapons of every class. Shooters, Sloshers, Splatlings, Blasters, Brushes, Brella, even Inkwhips.

Wait. No. There were three missing. Throughout the entirety of where she could see, there were no Rollers, Dualies, or Chargers, save for the one she dropped.

The three that they didn't lose. They _did_ replicate them!

All of this, she saw in an instant. The figure took off, running faster than she had ever seen before.

It was too muck work to raise her limbs, and her mouth went dry. She forgot how to speak, drowning in sorrow.

What would Inkopolis be like once she returns?

She hoped for what she saw before. The glowing lights, the cheerful faces, the life in the city.

Surely there was some defense? They must have just been caught off guard. They should be able to push back eventually with little casualties.

But... that hope... she knew...

It was useless.

Moreover, what happened to the rest of them?

Rose...

Marie...

Simon...

Were they hypnotized too?

What about Cap'n Cuttlefish? Sid? Sheldon?

By this time, she recovered her energy, but she lacked the will to move. She dropped her weapon; nothing could be done.

She looked at the face of the one carrying her, something she didn't think to do before.

Octavio... he saved her?

She was shocked into silence by the reveal.

Then she became aware of no more. A sleep, perhaps, but with eyes open, scared into nothing by seeing things none should have.

All was accompanied by the yells and screams of a falling city.

—

 **Another question, does going into hyper detail in thoughts work? I did it for quite a while on this chapter's second half, so how is it?**


	43. Distrust

This **month's Salmon Run gear is a pair of Octarian Goggles from the first game. It's nice to have something to back up my once completely baseless theory.**

—

Did she ever truly recover her strength? Perhaps the exhaustion pushed her to sleep. Perhaps it was her desire to escape, back to a world where nothing was wrong.

Whatever the case, Callie woke up in bed. Not her bed, but she was none the wiser. She didn't want to leave the comfort of the mattress, dismissing all she saw as a bad dream and nothing more.

She was shocked back to reality when she opened her eyes, realizing she was in an unfamiliar environment. The ceiling was dark and the bed was not hers. The events from some time before rushed back to her.

"Morning," called a voice from the other side of the room.

On instinct, she responded in kind. The entire room as artificially lit, with each light dim. It was cold, fueling her desire to stay in bed. However, she knew she couldn't.

"Need anything?" The voice called. She leaped out of the covers, and subsequently realized she had nothing to defend herself with.

"You..." he said.

Callie, once she got a good look at his face, realized the one standing before her was one of the Octolings she tore from the Hypno-Shades' grip.

"You're Agent 1?! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for the other day, I shouldn't have treated you like that-"

"Cut it," she interrupted. "Where am I?"

"In the sky. We're in the main base of the Octarians. "

She grabbed his collar. "Are you with Akash?"

"No, no, I swear! Here, come on, I'll take you to our leader."

Along the way, he introduced himself as Barry and explained that he, along with many other Octolings, operated within the enemy base. They existed in secret, not allowing Akash or any of his subordinates to know.

They called themselves the Octarians Against Tyranny and Hatred, or OATH. It was an unofficial organization, sending a few brave individuals into the main base in order to gather information.

She never let her guard down.

They finally reached a room, where there were multiple computers and Octolings working on them. One in particular was watching over one. "Octavio," Callie said. Everyone in the room turned to look at her, Octavio included.

"Hello," he said, "it's good you're awake. What's your name?"

What? That can't be right. He had to know her. After all, she did spend quite a while with him. Or maybe he was trying to earn her trust?

"Lie..." she answered.

"The general told us he rescued one of you," Barry explained. "You look the most like Agent 1, so that's who we assumed you were. Are you sure you should have told us your name?"

"Doesn't matter anymore..." Callie said. She decided to play along for now. "What happened in the attack," she winced, "and where are the others?"

"The attack," Octavio explained, "it succeeded. They found anyone and splatted them. Once they respawned, a pair of Hypbo-Shades was put on their head. Come with me," he said. "I have things to say to you. In private."

She followed him into another room, keeping an eye on everyone.

"Listen," Octavio said. "Akash attacked Inkopolis. There were nine people who led the attack. Five were his children, and the rest were you four."

She was beginning to get annoyed. "Yeah, I know. Now what was it that you wanted to tell me? Everyone out there knows that already."

"You were the only one I managed to find. The other three were too far into the city. I managed to get you out of there before anyone caught me."

"I know that too. Why else would I be here?" Octavio seemed like a completely different person when not masquerading as a DJ.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? Not like I have another option but to say that. We won't be able to fight him if we're fighting each other."

She had no choice but to nod in approval.

"You won't be able to enter the city for a while," Octavio explained. "The one you call Agent 4 is out there with a large group rounding up the stragglers. Agent 2 is training some new 'recruits' and Agent 3 is off collecting Golden Eggs with three novices. Oh, and playing that song won't work. The shades now double as headsets, and they won't hear anything other than Akash."

"Got it," she said, keeping her piercing gaze at him. "Three seems like the best option right now. We'll have to wait for night to rescue Two, and Four apparently has a large group watching her. Are there any tracking devices on them?"

"The Hypno-Shades. Once you break those, they're home free."

She decided to trust them for now, because it was her only chance to free them. "Do you have a weapon for me?"

"Here," he quite literally kicked the bucket as he gave her the Hero Slosher. "It's the original. Nothing new."

"Is he out right now?" She asked. "We should be able to deal with three."

"Yes," he said. "Now, to get you there."

—

There was a boat. Different from any of Grizzco's. Barry was chosen to accompany her, as he was one of the few OATH members who could fight. A few more she didn't know manned the boat.

Octavio headed to Inkopolis, but for what reason, she didn't know.

Barry kept trying to start a conversation, but she refused to speak.

They were heading to Marooner's Bay. They would approach from the southern end and jump right onto the area. Super Jumping would be impossible, as the wave would still be underway. From there, they would break the shades on all four of the workers, thus freeing them. She only hoped they had the sense to keep shooting when free.

They would then make their way back to the boat and escape.

If all went well, four more would join the OATH.


	44. Two Squids and Salmonids

He jumped.

As high as he could.

He had to free them.

Then he was on the ground. Strange, when did he land?

He saw Callie in front of him and a broken pair of shades on the ground. Were... were those on him?

They were in Marooner's Bay near the egg basket. He had one strapped to his back. A cluster of Salmonids emerged from the sea below.

He let Callie lead him by the hand to a boat nearby and left him there. She dashed back out to assist another Octoling with his Salmonid hunting companions.

They quickly broke the shades on those three.

Together, the two herded them onto the boat while a Steel Eel chased after.

"Now!" yelled Callie, and the boat began to move.

"Wh- what?" he said. He realized his Agent 3 mask was off, including the mouth covering. He was wearing clothes attributed to Salmon Run. His Hero Shot was in his left hand, and his shield was gone.

The sudden change combined with his initial unsureness bombarded his mind, puzzling him to no end. What was he doing? He knew Callie was safe, so the others should be too, right?

Callie returned to where he was, leaving the others.

Before he could say something, she embraced him tightly. "I'm glad you're safe," she said.

In response, he hugged returned the gesture, not bothering to ask about the situation.

As the wave ended, the egg on his back boat they were on proceeded.

What happened? Was he hypnotized? Were Rose and Marie? What was Akash doing? Was he defeated?

Before he had the chance to ask, the Grizzco boat in the distance pointed its satellite at their craft.

Callie noticed and slammed open the door leading to the inner portion of it. "Go as fast as possible, they're going to attack!"

The Killer Wail shot, which everyone thankfully avoided.

Callie, again anticipating the next move, yelled, "Get in!" at everyone outside. Complying, everyone rushed in, and the Inksrikes merely rocked the boat, causing no major damage.

Simon realized the special was oddly attached to the gear rather than the weapon. Seeing the source of the attacks, he saw an opportunity. "Who has the Sting Ray?" he shouted, not allowing the confusion from earlier to deter him.

When nobody answered, he ran up to one and pressed the button on the chest of the clothing. He didn't have to worry about it being a Splashdown, as it was his. When a Bomb Rush appeared, he proceeded to the next. A Sting Ray emerged from, well, somewhere, and the person with it looked horrified.

"I'll help you aim it," he continued. He pointed the nozzle at Grizzco's boat, and the steady stream of ink erupted, soon gaining a wider radius.

It became still, and nothing indicated it was active.

The coworker who produced the Stingray's eyes widened in fear. "Relax," said Callie, trying to reassure him. "They're going to respawn."

The boat slowed, lessening the strain on the engine. The coworkers chose to stay inside, and Barry supervised them.

Simon and Callie left the interior. "I owe you an explanation," she said. When he didn't respond, she continued, "He got all of us."

He let out a long exhale. "Who's next?" He knew worrying would do no good.

Callie, anticipating the question, said, "Marie. Rose is still rounding up stragglers." The question didn't feel real. It felt as if she was telling a story, because why else would Rose do that?

"Stragglers?" He asked, visibly surprised. "Don't tell me..."

"We-" she began, not knowing how to word it. "Inkopolis was attacked. They hypnotized anyone they could find. Octavio got me out of there."

"What's the plan then?"

She was puzzled that he didn't appear to harbor any skepticism against Octavio.

"He must have had some reason to choose you and not anyone else," said he, practically reading her mind. "He must really believe in you, though he'd never say that out loud."

She paused, contemplating the remark. If there was no reason to trust him, she'd still be a leader in another attack. They were all in this together, whether they liked it or not. "Yeah," she said, breaking the silence. "I guess you're right. We'll wait until nightfall to rescue Marie. We'll rest until then."

"They're going to up the security," Simon said. "If you raided a Salmon Run that easily..."

"Especially on Marie and Rose. They just lost 2 of their greatest assets, and they know we're going for the others."

"How long has it been since the episode with Akash?" he wondered aloud. "Did they jump straight into the attack, or did they take the time to get us to tell them everything?"

A sense of dread crept into them, as they realized the weight of the situation. "We might have to go into hiding," said Callie. "After all this is over."

Neither of them dared ask the question. How would it be over? Akash has an entire army, and an entire city's population just joined it. What was his next goal? Was it to attack the next city? And the next, and the next, until none remained? There must be other armies gathering, trying to stop the march. Will they be successful? Or will the Octarians' technology be the ultimate factor?


	45. Soundless Rescue

With Simon entirely updated on the situation and an unofficial member of the OATH, the Sky Base itself had to be raided to rescue the third member.

Barry, once they hit land, brought the three other workers to Inkopolis, swearing they would be safe by Callie's request. He returned later, ensuring they were safe with Octavio.

Night swept the Base, and both of the freed prepared to make the raid. They were equipped with their previous weapons, except they traded them, as Callie was more suited to a basic Shooter than a Slosher, and vise versa.

In addition, they each wore a headset, where they could communicate with each other and Barry, who was to remain within the hidden chambers and inform them of any threats via the security system, which was hacked into. He could also see from their perspective from a camera on the headset.

Marie was asleep within the base, suspiciously remotely disconnected from any room of the OATH headquarters. The two had to take a path and stealthily traverse the base, avoiding any guards.

The main problem was that there were three Elite Octolings guarding her at all times. At the current shift, the most skilled were in duty. The two could dispatch them easily, but not without drawing unwanted attention.

Their solution was simple, and utilized the oldest trick in the book: diversion.

Both ink tanks were filled with ink the same blue shade as the floors and walls of the Base, so they could hide more easily. However, the shine from the ink would reveal their location, so that had to use it sparingly. In addition, shooting the ink would also pose a problem due to the sound it produces.

The respawn point in the Base was very primitive, much to their bewilderment. Octarians have all this technology, yet they can't respawn quickly? Barry explained that the only quick respawn alternative they knew of was extremely expensive, which is why only one of the Octobosses was capable of doing so. It would take at least 15 minutes for somebody to respawn.

"Ready?" Barry asked them upon the arrival of the agreed time. They heard him through the headset and from where he stood.

They nodded. The wall to their left rotated, allowing them to pass.

The two proceeded, wary of their surroundings and listening carefully for anything to indicate a guard.

"Alright, this hall to your left is a large square. The two guards move in a set pattern and speed. Use the next rotation to find the speed. Move slowly so the guards don't see you."

They heard footsteps, and the guard passed at a speed slightly slower than walking. Once he was about halfway through, they began to follow him.

"To the left at the next turn.

They turned left, and nobody saw them.

"Right."

After the command was followed, Callie heard a door opening from the next turn and held out her hand to stop Simon.

"There's an empty closet- second door to the left."

That particular door was open. They ran inside, not making a sound, and didn't dare try to close it because it might make a sound.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and grew louder and louder. The unknown person passed, leaving a breeze that was barely noticeable.

Simon motioned, indicating the threat left, and they exited the closet.

"Follow this hallway to its end."

Simon and Callie crept forward, stopping at every corner to watch and listen for a security guard. They hid numerous times under a plant or similar decoration using the ink, but there was no need, for there were little guards.

"Here. The security guard is to your left, then another left, then a right. There's one guarding the room."

Callie heard the faint breathing of the guard's guard. She shot one blob of ink within his view, making sure her arm and the Hero Shot were hidden.

He saw, and began to slowly advance, weapon ready.

They painstakingly waited for him to turn.

When he did, Callie threw a bottle of Poison Gas, slowing him, then she ducked, allowing Simon to Splat him with the Hero Slosher.

He retrieved the Hypno-Shades, remembering that they were tied to a tracking system, and placed them on the floor where the guard once was.

In the next room was an Octoling poring over a multitude of screens. Their blue light shone through the Hypno-Shades.

Simon spotted a security camera nearby.

"There's nobody around except for the guard."

He pulled on Callie's free arm and pointed at the camera, which still didn't spot them. She fired once more at the camera, and Simon saw the guard grow tense and turn around, only to be met with a Splat Bomb. He repeated the same strategy with the Hypno-Shades, except this time, he put them on the chair.

With the sliver of hope growing, they waited for more instructions.

"Great. Now, backtrack until you get to the first fork. Go the other way this time."

After refilling their ink tanks, the two retreated, not having to worry about security cameras anymore. They were on a timer now, however, because once a guard respawns, the alarm would sound.

"There are more guards down this lane. They're moving, so you'll have to hide a few times instead of engaging them. Luckily, it's darker here, so the ink won't shine as much."

Simon opened the ink tank directly and prepared to drop some on the floor if need be.

They pushed against the corners in squid form a few times, and they managed to avoid a few.

"Left. Take the first door to your left."

In there was an empty room, with only a few pieces of furniture here and there.

"Okay. He passed. Leave and go forward. Fifth door after the next turn is your goal. Be careful. The three guards are there."

They stopped and silently came to an agreement.

Callie threw another bottle of Poison Gas and Simon a Splat Bomb simultaneously. The explosion caught all three of the guards.

They rushed to the Shades and, once again, placed them where they once were.

Marie was inside the guarded room, which looked like a holding cell. Callie felt a renewed sense of disgust at the power of the Hypno-Shades. She snuck in while Simon remained outside and slowly removed Marie's Hypno-Shades. Marie remained asleep, oblivious to the terror around her.

"Looks like we have no choice but to fight our way back," Callie said, eliciting a nod from Simon, "we can't hide with her."

"Leave the guards at the initial sqare hall," Barry said. "It'll throw them off."

The three left, Callie with Marie, leaving Simon at the front to fight. He quickly dispatched the first guard, then another, then another, until they reached the square hall.

The alarm sounded, startling everyone who could hear.

Simon and Callie ran. They picked a path away from the rotating wall in order to confuse anyone following. A well timed Splat Bomb dealt with one of the hall guards, while the Slosher got another.

"You're off the security system," Barry said. "Go to the wall, you'll be safe."

Two squids sprinted to the rotating wall. Once they had their backs against it, the wall spun around, revealing a passage to the OATH headquarters.

"Alright, we're good. You picked a good path. They think you left with a flying Kettle."

Callie located the bed she first woke in and placed Marie on it.

 _One more to go,_ she thought, as she rejoined Simon.

—

 **Ugh, this chapter is sloppy. I don't really know how to write stealth sequences, let alone keep them interesting. Next one will be better, I promise.**


	46. Who it is

**To Sunny211 (guest I think): Wait, it's called Toxic Mist?**

 ***checks***

 **Okay, from now on, it's gonna be called Toxic Mist! Thanks for the clarification, dear viewer.**

 **(How the heck did I get Poison Gas in my mind?)**

—

"So, you're probably going to want to go after Agent 4 as soon as she wakes up. They've definitely noticed the pattern by now, so they'll most likely call her back soon," Barry explained quietly. He leaned against the rotating wall to listen for anyone approaching. Nobody came.

Most of the OATH returned to the HQ by this point, but some were still out performing various tasks.

"She doesn't have a weapon, does she?" Simon said to Callie, who responded,

"She doesn't need one. We go for the shades. On all of them. It's her and ten more, right?"

"I'll go check," he gestured toward the Intelligence Chamber. "Go watch Marie, we don't want her to panic."

Simon went to the Intelligence Chamber, where everything's the OATH knew was stored, both on paper and on a database. He opened the drawer labeled "Agent 4" and found the file "Post-Attack". He skimmed the paper she until he found one detailing each of the people guarding her.

Out of the ten, only two seemed to interest him. One had a photo of his sister. He exhaled long and quietly. Now he had two reasons to free them.

The other was a picture of an Octoling. One that he couldn't name. Her face was engraved into his mind, somehow.

He didn't spend too long dwelling on it, though. He got what he came there for, and it was the fact that there were eleven opponents.

Curious, he looked at Agent 4's other files. They knew her main weapon class, several maneuvers she could perform, and other random details that had no bearing. He shuddered. What did they know about him? He tried his drawer.

There was a picture of him, maskless, from when he was imprisoned. They had no name because they didn't bother asking him. They knew they would be stuck with a pseudonym. Also in there was his old communicator, the one they took from him. He didn't have his new one, that was also stolen.

Reassuring himself that's it wasn't theft because it was rightfully his, he looked around for anyone. Without anyone seeing, he took the communicator from the drawer. It was dead, predictably. It was mainly solar-powered, and it was stuck in a drawer for quite some time.

He made a mental note to charge ignored once the sun rose.

Another drawer caught his eye. It was labeled "Tech". Intrigued, he tried to open it.

The drawer was locked. Now disappointed, he tried a few more. The rest were locked, likely because they contained precious information. He guessed the two he opened were due to a careless mistake earlier.

He heard footsteps from outside. Faintly, a voice said, "...and as soon as possible, we have to go after Four." Callie.

The door to the Intelligence Chamber opened, and the Squid Sisters stood in the doorway.

"I explained everything," Callie said. "Should we head out now?"

He nodded. "Is Barry coming too?"

"Yes," said Callie. "He's bringing a Blaster."

"A regular one? Wouldn't that be useless against them?"

"It's modified. It knocks them back a lot more than usual."

—

The Kettle landed in the forest. There was nothing nearby that was a threat, as the Wild Tentacle drowned some time ago.

Driven by the will to save Agent 4, they proceeded toward the abandoned city.

The forest, while usually dark, seemed quieter than usual.

In the distance, Inkopolis had no lights. It had no noise. It had no life.

They discussed their plan.

"The Hypno-Shades give off a light," Barry said. "With the bioluminescence, they would be easier to spot."

"We should start off high," Marie suggested. "Land near them."

"They're looking for anyone left, right?" said Callie. "Lure them into an alley and take it from there."

"We can't splat them, though," Simon explained. "We don't know where their respawn pad is. Or if they have one."

"Toxic Mist, then," Callie stopped. "The jump point's disabled," she realized.

"Okay," Marie said, ignoring the comment. "We have our plan. But after that, what's next?"

Nobody answered. What would they do next? They have four people. What could they do against an entire city's population and an army?

The diminishing hope seemed to die then and there. The only thing that kept them going was the chance to see Rose again.

Barry looked uncomfortable. After Callie asked him what's wrong, he said, "Nothing,"

Simon kept his face blank. Something about that Octoling guarding Rose seemed too familiar. Was it someone he fought back in Octo Valley? "Hey," he said. "In that entire group, there's only one Octoling girl. We should prioritize her and Rose."

Callie looked at him suspiciously. "Why is that?"

"I- I don't know. It's just... I feel like I've seen her before. I don't think it was for very long, but she must've done something for me to remember her. I feel like she's really skilled, but I don't know why..."

"Maybe it's someone from the Lab," Marie suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

They kept going forward, this time in silence. They were getting close to the city.

Finally, it clicked.

That's who that Octoling was.

—

 **And just like that, Summer's over. Really sorry about this, but don't expect the upload speed to increase anytime soon, I have obligations. They're most likely going to be confined to the weekends with some exceptions.**


	47. Rekindled Flame

**To a Guest: Sorry, but I'm not really that great at romance stories, and the next story is already planned. Not too far in, but planned nonetheless. Check my profile for the details.**

 **To Draco127 (also guest): Actually, yeah, I do read all of the reviews. Not that there's that many, but still.**

—

"Yes sir, we'll head back now." Rose's voice felt strangely ampilified within the silent world. It sounded like she was a few blocks away.

Simon coughed, trying to draw the group's attention.

After a few seconds of silence, her voice was heard again. "Permission to investigate the cough I just heard?"

"Granted, granted, granted," Callie muttered. She backed away from the edge of the building's roof, hiding her light.

"They're coming this way," Marie said. The footsteps steadily increased in volume.

The group of eleven reached the alley they lured them to. "Attention!" Rose called, "You are-"

She was cut off by the battle cry coming from above. Toxic Mist came from seemingly nowhere, and a blanket of ink covered the nearby ground.

Simon landed in front of her, and he thrust his fist forward, braking one pair.

He dodged to the side, avoiding a stream of blobs, and threw a Splat Bomb at another, dispatching two out of eleven.

Barry shot at a group of four, spreading them apart and sending them backwards with the knockback. He dropped a Splash Wall, delaying them further, then he destroyed a third by coming from behind.

Marie, perhaps the most aggressive, was the most agile due to her lack of weapon. Instead of landing on her feet, she swam across the short ink trail and took yet another midair. She snapped them in half and threw the remains over the Splash Wall, accomplishing nothing. She engaged two more from behind, frontflipped over them, and stole the shades right off of their faces.

"Wh- Wha-" Rose stammered, still recovering from the blow. She took a moment to register the mayhem before her, then witnessed Callie launching a Splat Bomb in one direction and a Slosher in another. Only the Slosher met its mark, making seven. The weapon's weight knocked the target unconscious.

The remaining four enemies attempted to flee. Two went in one direction, two in the other.

Before anyone could react, Rose was already sprinting down the alley and turned onto the street. Not bothering to check if the other four were behind, she launched a Curling Bomb to quicken her pace. Once it exploded, leaving a round mark, she jumped out of the trail she made and threw a Splat Bomb. Because it had the same color of ink as her enemies, it did nothing to them directly. Instead, their composure in fleeing faltered.

She took the almost imperceptibly quick hesitation to dodge-roll in front of the two. She holstered her Dualies. Aiming at the one to her left, she thrust her arm outwards, grabbed onto the shades, and pulled them back.

Performing the same maneuver with her other hand, she freed the other from the eyewear's grasp.

She took a moment to calm herself and steady her breathing. Not too far away, she saw Simon waving at her, standing next to two more people she didn't recognize. She assumed they were the other two. Rose's mind was swimming with questions, the most prominent being this:

 _What the heck?_

—

"...and now we're here," explained Callie, the first to be freed.

"How... how bad is it? The attack? Who's left?" Rose asked, afraid of the answer.

Barry left with the ten others earlier. Only one was unconscious. He said he was going back to the OATH.

After a moment, Simon said in a whisper, "We don't know."

Each of the four had a bittersweet reunion. Never has the hope been so low. Never have the chances been so slim.

They were all moving toward the heart of the city: Inkopolis Square. None bothered to follow Barry. They were all too grim to feel anything but curiosity.

There was only one way there now, since the jump points were all deacivated.

They turned the last corner.

 _The Square_ , they thought.

 _It's..._

 _Empty._

Nearly all of the buildings were still standing. They took the people, not the city. One, however, was toppled, with its remains sprawling out across the street.

Deca Tower.

Images flashed behind Marie's eyes of the Eagle perched on top of it when it was still standing.

"Is there anyone left?" Rose muttered. She remembered her father was in Inkopolis recently. The risk of calling him would be too great. Akash must know her name by now, and if he heard her voice on his phone, he would use him against her.

The sun was rising above the horizon, adding an ironic beauty to the scene.

The Galleria was deserted. The screens covering the tower were demolished. There was one thing each building had in common: the doors were flat against the ground, either knocked down or destroyed.

There was one thing that pulled everything together.

The remains of a cooler we're sitting near Grizzco's entrance.

Akash's plan was in motion months before they even knew it.

He founded Grizzco as a way to support it.

They developed the Hypno-Shades that didn't discriminate based on species.

The Hero weapons were mass produced.

Inkwhips were created.

The hidden weapons they heard about in the beginning existed for a long time.

Salmonid coolers, holding the army, were to be dropped into Inkopolis so they could attack from every direction.

The final part...

It was them.

The Piranha was a tool. The fish was the lure.

It attacked ships to get their attention, then it brought itself to the SRC. Even the SRC was a ploy to lure them.

Akash took control of them,

And then...

It was all for this one attack.

"What next?" Callie asked. "There must be something."

"What about everyone else? Crusty Sean, Bisk, the jellies?" Rose asked. "Cap'n Cuttlefish... Sheldon..."

"Grizzco!" Simon said. "What's in Grizzco?"

There was a note on the grate covering the entrance.

—

If anyone was to be freed first, it would be you four.

I know who you are.

Callie. Simon. Marie. Rose.

I knew you would come here eventually. Where's Octavio? Was it him?

If you are reading this, remember:

You are never safe. I will find you.

—

The message frightened them. Nobody wanted to comment.

Simon remembered his communicator in his pocket. He removed it and held it in the sun. He explained he found it in the Intelligence Chamber.

After a short time, it turned on. He inputted a short password.

There was one recent message.


	48. The Bunker

"Come home," Simon read off the communicator. He hopped off of the table he was sitting on to show everyone else.

"Home? W-what does that mean?" Rose asked as she grabbed Akash's note off of the grate. "Is it code of some sort? Who sent it?"

He looked at the sender. "Cap'n Cuttlefish. Does that mean he's okay?" His eyes seemed to spark with hope.

Marie turned around and faced them. "Booyah Base," she said. "It's code for the original Ammo Knights."

"Then let's go," Callie said, "It's our only choice right now." Her eyes, too, were sparkling.

The windows of abandoned buildings overhead parried the beams of light toward the ground. Inkopolis Plaza wasn't too far away.

—

The four bounded across the rooftops of buildings to avoid being ambushed from above. Inkopolis Tower, unlike Deca Tower, was still standing. Rose landed first by using a dodge-roll. The familiar bowl shape from the missing road was still there, with holes spotting the area sporadically.

"Which one's Ammo Knights?" Rose asked, turning around. "I'm not too familiar with this place."

Simon pointed. "There." A wave of nostalgia swept over him. "I-It looks so similar..."

Ammo Knight was the tall cylindrical building behind the rest. Everything else was still in place. The dojo to the right, Booyah Base to the left, and Inkopolis Tower straight ahead.

They entered the weapon shop, ready for anything.

Simon looked back at Callie and Marie. "Remember the code?" He asked. They affirmed they did.

Rose, of course, had no idea what they meant, but she remained silent.

The weapons hanging on the wall were still there. The invaders must have realized they were for display and had no use as a weapon.

Simon pulled the trigger on the Splattershot twice, then twisted the Roller's handle twice. He pulled the handle off and pressed the button it concealed. Marie stepped on a few tiles and pushed them downwards. After Simon pressed the button again, a keypad appeared on the western wall.

Callie entered a short passcode — 2267 — and the tiles Marie stepped on slid away, revealing a staircase.

"Keep your weapons ready if this is a trap," Marie commanded.

Callie descended the stairs first, with Rose taking the rear. An artificial light bathed the downwards corridor.

Each step caused a creak in the material despite their efforts to not reveal their prescience.

She saw the end of the staircase, and it opened into a larger room.

Trying her hardest to not make any noise, Callie descended the last of the stairs. She held her Slosher back in preparation, ready to swing it forward at a moment's notice.

As she stepped onto the bottom, she saw a blur to her left and brought it forwards, but the ink only met the floor as it dodged to Callie's right.

When the figure became still, she saw a short, white-haired Inkling equipped with Hero Dualies aimed directly at her forehead. She was wearing an oversized sweater and a heavy-looking necklace.

The Inkling's eyes widened as she saw who they were. "Hold up, you're..." She lowered the weapons and turned back, yelling "Cap! They're here!"

Rose peeked to the side. "Who was that?" she asked, making it her turn to raise her Dualies.

Before anyone could respond, the sweater girl said "This way! Cap'n's been waiting!"

Rose recognized the voice. "Pearl?" she whispered. Simon, who was in front of her, heard.

"That's Pearl?" He said incredulously. "So... there are still people here!"

"Yo, Cap! They're here!" she yelled, louder this time.

The sound of a door opening echoed from, well, somewhere. "Shut up, Shut up!" said a loud whisper. "We don't want to get caught."

"Cool it, Sheldon," said the so-called princess. "We already know there's no one out there."

"Sheldon?" Callie called. "That you?" She kept her Slosher ready, prepared for an unanticipated assault.

There was no response. Rose ushered the line forward, confident they were in a safe place. The stairwell ended with a large basement that expanded greatly. Wooden workstations scattered the area, most having signs of a weapon or some other gadget. It looked like a science fair, except this one was the work of few people.

Marie laid eyes on Sheldon, who was half in, half out of a doorway on the other side of the secret basement. She waved at him casually. He turned around, said something, and came out of the doorway.

"Hi... Sheldon. Uh." said Rose awkwardly. "We're good now."

He ran over to them. "Yeah, I know, that's great and all, but what happened? We need to know this, it's extemely important. For example, is Akash still-"

"Yes," Marie interrupted. She didn't want him to go on a rant.

Simon didn't pay attention; he was too busy poring over the workstations. Scraps of various Hero weapons were scattered across the tables. Or, at least, scraps of old weapons that could become Hero weapons. He glanced around at some blueprints around and saw every Hero weapon, the Rainmaker, and even something that resembled a Suction Bomb, except it was wider.

He spent a few minutes there, enthralled by the technology. To his slight dismay, there was nothing resembling Octarian technology. His time in Octo Valley sparked an interest in the subject.

Looking up later, he saw that the others had left him in his trance. Callie came out of the door Sheldon came from and waved at him.

Smiling sheepishly, he briskly strode to the door, laughing awkwardly. "Sorry," he said.

"Whatever, come on, in here," Callie replied, and she pushed open the entryway. The area was remarkably smaller than the previous room. There were couches and other amenities against the walls of the room, and a chandelier was suspended above them. It looked overall more comfortable and fitting for guests than a regular bunker. The other three were sitting around Cap'n Cuttlefish, while Sheldon was pacing the length of the room. Pearl was gone, most likely through one of the the staircases on the other end.

"From what you three have told me, they don't have Dualies," Sheldon said. "Now, if we just had more people-"

"Cap'n," Simon said, felling the need to address him first.

"Agent 3," he said in return. "I'm glad you're back, but we don't have time for sentimentality. What happened from your side?"

"My side?" He thought for a moment. "Not much. They've probably told you everything you need to know. Although," he said, while taking a seat,

"I got this back." He removed the communicator from his pocket. "It's the only one."

Cap'n Cuttlefish shifted in his rocking chair. "If that's the case, you'll have to stay together at all times so you can see any messages."

"Yeah, that's great," Rose said with a hint of annoyance. "But what's our next plan of attack?"

"As I was saying!" Sheldon stated boldly, "They do not have Dualies. If that's the case, we can use what Agent 4 did - Skydive, was it? - without fear of them using it against us!"

"Perfect," Rose said. "We just need an army."

Footsteps echoed down the right stairwell. Pearl bounded to the floor first, followed by another.

"I got her," Pearl said. "What did we miss?"

In that room stood Off the Hook, face-to-face with their predecessors.

—

 **Ugh, Pearl is going to be hard to write for me. I literally had to look up slang to keep her in character.**


	49. To Best an Army

**To draco127 (guest) (and I guess a lot more of you): Well, uh, actually, it's not that close to the end. I have the ending somewhat planned out, but it's not gonna be for a while. I do have an assortment of events that have to happen before the end.**

 **But I will tell you one thing. I plan for the climax to be multiple chapters long.**

—

Barry listened somewhat intently to Octavio, but was growing irritated. He was talking for what felt like hours about his plans for where they were.

"...and since Akash has pulled the troops from here, I've barred the entrances and sealed every possible route except for that one-" He pointed at the sole natural column of light beaming from the ceiling, "and found only a few remaining citizens." His voice dropped to a whisper. "None of them know who I am."

"Good to know, sir," he responded apprehensively. Octavio looked to be perpetually angry ever since he came to Inkopolis. "Should I alert the NSS and get them here as well? They'd be invaluable in training."

"Yes. Go find them. I don't care how you do it."

—

"And here you go!" Marina pranced into the bunker's lounge with a wide smile. "It's not too often I get to work with Inkling technology. It's so... different to what I'm used to," she said, handing each of the four a communicator of the old model. These ones resembled a usual phone, except they were thicker and without the inconvenience of being modeled after a squid.

Rose was caught off guard, as she almost fell asleep lying on a couch. "What? A-already?" she said groggily. She blinked twice, trying to wake up. He head lolled to the side.

"Yeah, she's right," Simon said questioningly. "It's been, like, half an hour. Did you manage to copy this thing three times with that kind of time?"

It was Marina's turn to give a questioning look. "Really? I thought I was working pretty slow today." She looked at Marie, who, unlike Rose, had already drifted off into sleep. "I'll, uh, just leave this here." She placed the fourth one next to her.

"Yeah, I know, I'm still not used to it," Pearl said with her back to the wall and one foot resting against it. "But, yeah, she was kinda chillin' out today. I've seen her do a heckuva lot more in half that time."

The introductions were over. Each of the four revealed their real name to the two after Cap'n Cuttlefish said they were involved in a mission a while ago. He wouldn't go into any more detail, even after heavy protest from Callie.

"I'm still not that good with weapons, though." Marina admitted with a hint of embarrassment. "Unless you count, well, those. And those..." She plopped down on a stiff wooden chair next to Pearl.

Sheldon's goggles flashed. "And that's where I come in! Nobody knows weapons like the master himself!" He leapt from his resting place and began a long and quick-mouthed speech that nobody understood, partially due to the jargon involved. None of them cared about the thermodynamic equilibrium of the ink in a Sloshing Machine-like complex at sub-zero temperatures.

While very obviously ignoring Sheldon, Callie joined the conversation. "Anyone know where Barry is now?"

Nobody said a word. "Should we go back to the OATH?" She continued.

Rose promptly shot herself with one of her Dualies. She was, of course, immune to the ink, but the impact drove her sleep away. "I guess," she said.

Meanwhile, Sheldon was speaking of the properties in an E-Liter. "And then BANG! The ink is propelled forward due to-"

"Sheldon!" Marie yelled, roused from her sleep. "Why," She said bluntly. After a few more seconds of pause, she continued, "Yeah, fine, let's go."

Marina shifted uncomfortably. "I'll go, too," her slight frown was obvious.

"I'll stay," Simon said, standing. "I have some... things to discuss with the Cap'n. I just remembered something. Go on without me. This'll take a while.

—

Barry peered over the railing near the top of Inkopolis Tower. He made it up there using the stairwell near the back that nobody knew about. He kept his perch for a while, trying to find any sign of the four.

Then he saw, right below him in Inkopolis Plaza, the four. His eyes narrowed in annoyance. He didn't have to climb up here in the first place.

Wait, no. Only three of them and one more. Wait, was that-?

Not wanting to yell for fear of attracting any troops he didn't now know of, he leapt off of the balcony, his soft figure withstanding the blow against the ground.

The one at the end of the line, whom he was still trying to confirm the identity of, heard. She stopped the three others and turned around. After he saw a pair of eyes with plus signs gaze at him past the corner, he found it fit to approach, avoiding the basin in the center of the Plaza.

Yes, it was who he thought it was.

"Dr. Ida?" he asked.

Marina winced at the name. "I- I haven't heard that one in a while..." she said, shying away and faking a smile.

"Doctor?" he heard. It was the voice of Agent 4. She was still obscured by the corner of the building.

"P-please..." Marina said, bowing in the voice's direction. "Don't ask."

Barry made a mental note to default to Ms. instead.

Lie walked by. "I thought you were back at the OATH? We were looking for you."

"I was going there," he admitted. "Then I got a message to come there." He pointed at the basin. "There's a training camp in there for anyone he could find. Also now we know Akash actually has four children, and the three you fought that one time in the Piranha were three of them, and the fourth one's gone missing, but I don't know," he said, shrugging.

Agent 2 revealed herself from the shadows of the corner as well. "That must be his motivation. I guess that youngest child he has, he hasn't seen in years. They must've came to the surface and never went back."

Barry, eager to change the topic, said, "Follow me. The training camp is in there."

He turned around, went to the hatch, and climbed the ladder downwards, not bothering to look back.

Once he was a few rungs from the bottom, he jumped off and landed. The dark stony walls extended about twenty feet upwards, with disabled security cameras and remains of other traps scattered amongst them.

The one he knew as Lie was the second to drop followed by Agent 2. Agent 4 seemed to be explaining to Marina that he was trustworthy, then They both descended. Agent 4, instead of using the ladder like a civilized person, just fell.

"How many do you have?" asked Agent 4. "Recruits, I mean. We need as many as we can get."

"About thirty..." Barry said. "Yeah, not that many. There's probably more out there, though."

Lie smiled. "Then we need to find them. Marina, if you can hack into the cable system or-"

"Slow down," Agent 2 said while crossing her arms and shaking her head profusely. "Think. We don't know how many of Akash's troops are still out there. If we make an announcement now, they'll know about it and reveal our location to Akash."

"In here," Barry said. He passed into a room similar to the Intelligence Chamber.

Nobody knew what powered the three computers in there except for Octavio.

"What's the plan?" Barry said as he sat in a chair and folded his hand she on a desk.

Lie had an idea. "The Hypno-Shades are connected to a tracking system. If we just knew that..."

"On it," Marina said, obviously more comfortable near the back of the room, away from Barry. She fumbled with a tote bag hanging from her shoulder and produced a laptop from it. Using one hand to hold it and the other to input commands, her lightning-fast fingers hacked into the tracking system in about thirty seconds.

"Wha- already?" Lie said. Even Agent 2 seemed impressed by this and shot her an incredulous look. Barry, however, was unfazed.

Marina was flustered by the sudden praise. "It wasn't that hard," she said. "I would've done that days ago, but I never knew about the tracking system."

Agent 4 was busy messaging Agent 3 to notice much.

—

3

Yeah, I'll be there soon. I'm still working on a few things. Go and clear the city without me. Should I send the other half of OtH?

4

I don't know if we need her.

3

I'll tell her anyway.

4

Can you ask her to bring a weapon for her and 2?

—

Sheldon was ecstatic to finally have someone to pass on his knowledge to. Although, he did have to slow down at times, per his request.

"Hold on, Sheldon," Simon said. "I need to update Cap'n Cuttlefish."

He covered the short distance between the main room covered with workstations and the lounge. Opening the door, he witnessed his mentor asleep, while Pearl lounged uncomfortably.

"They're gonna clear the city of troops," he said. "They might need you for this."

"Aight," Pearl said, eager to leave the roar of the elder's snoring behind. "Tell them I'll be there."

"Just wait outside Ammo Knights. They'll explain everything. Also, can you bring this to them?" He held out his Hero Shot. "This, and another weapon."

Simon shot a quick message to Rose, then he crossed the main room again, stopping for a moment to admire the work in front of him.

"What's the deal with the Rainmaker?" he asked upon returning to Sheldon. "It already works fine in Ranked."

"That," Sheldon began, "is not merely the regular Rainmaker. You do recall it can only be held for a certain amount of time, yes?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "After that time runs out, it overheats. When Agent 4 battled DJ Octavio for the first time, she used that prototype. It shot farther and could be held for longer. However, if she didn't drop it on Octavio to finish the battle and held it any longer, it would have overheated and exploded like it does in a regular Ranked Match. What I am trying to do is make it so it can't overheat and someone can use it for as long as they want."

Slowly, Simon was adapting to Sheldon's manner of speech. "Okay." He paused to see if Sheldon had anything more to say. "By the way, the other three look like they'll be training some novices to prepare for the counterattack."

Sheldon stopped. "Then what are you doing here!? You need to help them, too!"

Simon shrugged "I'm only really accustomed to regular shooters," he sighed, somewhat disappointed with himself. "And you can't really teach someone how to use one of those, they just have to train themselves." He brushed away a piece of dust on the workstation. "I guess I'll just stay with the technology department. Now, I'm still learning about the Roller's inner functions, right? I need to make one of those for Callie."

—

Marina, brandishing a Hero Brella, along with her allies Pearl and Callie, stood on Inkopolis Tower, gazing in the direction of their first target.

"Hold up, gotta charge these," said Pearl as she fired a few shots from her Dualies to the ground below.

Marina chastised her for doing this. "No, Pearl, that's illegal!" she said, crossing her arms.

"It's not illegal if there's no laws, gurl!"

Callie looked in her direction, seeing her enjoying the act. "You have a special on that thing?"

"Yeah, that Sheldon guy gave me the deets on the 'Skydive' thing," she said. "Here, check it," She said, and backed up to run off the balcony.

"No!" Maria said again. "Save it for when we need it."

Callie smiled, remembering how Marie kept her in check like that when they were younger. "You both gonna train the less experienced as well?"

"No," Marina said for a third time, but this time more relaxed. "I'd be better off with the technology team."

"Depends," Pearl shrugged nonchalantly. "How good is your other Dualies person? Rose, right?"

"Extremely," Callie said, rolling her eyes as she remembered Rose's performance against Octavio in his Octobot King. She had come to terms with the knowledge ever since her date with Simon. Just how long ago was it? A week? Two?

She stood up and began to plan the route to the first destination.

—

Marie, Rose, and Barry stood with their backs against the wall, listening to the group of soldiers standing in the center of Wahoo World. They said nothing.

"I must've had a special pair," Rose said with a normal tone, meaning the shades. "I had to hear everything to gather the stragglers." Unlike the shades Rose wore, the rest were noise canceling to block any powerful songs from reaching their ears.

Barry brandished his knockback Blaster. "I'll shoot this a few times to knock some down, then we can deal with a few at a time."

Marie held Simon's Hero Shot. She removed a map of Inkopolis from her pocket. Spread throughout it were several marks, some blue and some red. Their group of three was to free the red groups. Her eyed focused on top of the one in Wahoo World, and, in a burst of confidence, crossed it off the map before they fired a single shot.

Oddly, none of the soldiers moved, and seemed to only be placed there as a roadblock.

"Remember," Marie whispered on instinct. "We're here to only free them. Pull the shades off their heads, but don't break them."

Suddenly, the sound of a Brush tracing a path came from the other side of the stage. A figure hopped to the regular out-of-bounds territory. It traced a path on the high wall, and then it swam through the path, building up speed.

It leapt from the wall and let out a short yell, making a silhouette in the sun.

And in the sky, with the brilliance of the star radiating behind him, was Sid.

—

 **I've decided that since the chapters will now be a lot farther apart than usual, they'll now be longer to make up for it. This, for example, is probably the second longest chapter I've ever uploaded, bested by only Liberation.**


	50. More Survivors

**For the clearing of the city, I'll cut down on the action sequences. Partly because I don't want to write like 10 of those in a row. Also it'd get boring and dull after about three, mainly because they'll all be too similar.**

—

Before the silhouette of the survivor could thrust his Hero Brush down, he was shot out of the air by a random Blaster shot. He was caught off guard by its incredible knockback capabilities and, before he knew it, he was on the ground, below the central platform of Wahoo World.

Once he recovered his senses, another survivor was on one knee over him. He saw who it was and immediately hopped back on his feet because if she was here, there was something extremely important about the unit he almost attacked.

"Listen," said the youngest member of the Splatoon quickly and without hesitation. "Pull off the shades. Don't break them."

He didn't answer. He lowered his Brush in apprehension.

"Don't splat them either," she continued, "and don't break the shades! Got it?"

After a quick nod, three of the ten on the platform above were thrust down. Two landed on their feet, with one immediately shooting a Hero Shot, and the other letting loose a few shots from a Hero Blaster.

Sid utilized the width of the Hero Brush to defend against the incoming ink bullets and advanced toward the source, trodding forwards despite the force the bullets provided and the weight of the three ink tanks on his back.

Once he was close, his enemy jumped backwards to maintain his distance. Annoyed, he ran with his Brush to the ground, sliding across as if it was on wheels.

He traced an unpredictably jagged path, still enduring a few shots. The enemy had no time to react as he raced by him, snatching the Hypno-Shades in the process.

Rose, not too far away, had already removed the two other shades from the corrupted soldiers' faces.

An Octoling he had only seen once before on the main platform pulled the trigger on his Blaster. As the shot soared through the air, he thought he saw the ink glowing lightly.

It landed a direct hit on the last of the ten who still had shades, sending the Inkling flying directly towards him.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as something within Sid awakened. The survivor jumped forward, somersaulting over the soldier and grasping the final pair in the process.

He almost landed on another pair, but Rose dodge-rolled and slid them out of the way.

With the final pair removed, Rose threw the four on the lower area to the central platform. Marie and the Octoling began to arrange them in a circular pattern.

Rose swam up the nearest wall to assist them. Marie left the platform and gestured for Sid to come over to her.

He jogged to the side she went to and waited for her to say something.

She reached in her pocket to grab something, but stopped midway. "Why do you have three of those?" she said.

Sid mentally scanned his visible self for anything he had three of. "Oh. Ink tanks? This Brush you gave me cuts through it faster than an Aerospray.

She rolled her eyes as if it were just a minor annoyance. "Rose!" she called. "We forgot to give him a better ink tank!"

"Better?" He stole Marie's attention by tapping the hilt of the Brush on the wall. "There's a better tank?"

She's nodded with a sense of boredom. "The Brush compresses the ink itself if it isn't already. It's 'cause of how big it is. But those tanks right there hold regular ink. That's why it cut through so quickly."

"We're good!" Rose called from the elevated ground. She held up a thumb and began to round up the scattered ten.

Sid noticed that the Inkling he freed looked horrified. He ran back over to her, causing her to shy away even more than she already was.

He held out his hand. "You're free now," he said, hoping it was the right thing to tell her.

He was surprising himself at how quickly he was accepting the situation, even possessing knowledge of practically no details. A foggy memory of the name "Akash" echoed in the back of his mind.

Reluctantly, the Inkling in front of him took his hand, and he helped her up. Rose stood behind them. Sid didn't hear her approach.

"He's fine," said Rose. "Don't be afraid of him. If anything, be afraid of the shades."

The survivor he didn't know the name of took a step backward and prepared to run. But something kept her there. Was it Rose?

"Morgan," said Rose, a friendly smile plastered on her face. "You're safe."

—

The unfolded map was spread across the ground, highlighting various sections in two colors. A hand, belonging to Callie, crossed out one, and then another, indicating two groups were dispatched. Three more to go. She exhaled, relieved that the process was going smoothly. The two they just freed were trivially easy.

The underground training camp held seven more recruits. An Octoling who only spoke in her native tongue ushered them into the next room. Still none of them saw what the actual training camp looked like.

Each of those seven had donned a pair of the now infamous Hypno-Shades. She, along with Off the Hook, repeated the strategy she used with Simon to rescue Marie back in the Sky Base in order to trick the system.

Their next problem was perched on two of the highest points in Inkopolis. Their next destination was atop Moray Towers, which could prove to be problematic, given that there were eight in the platoon. Four soldiers stood upon each roof. This gave one side's soldiers time to escape and sound the alarm if ever they saw the other side being attacked.

They had two options: Split into one and two, possibly attacking both at once. However, the lone person would be extremely vulnerable.

Or they could just go all out on one side and hope to reach the rest before they escaped.

Neither were good options.

If there was just one more...

Once again, the sound of a hatch opening followed by shoes hitting the floor at a high speed echoed throughout the entrance room.

There was only one person she knew who would do that.

Regardless, she whirled around. It pays to be careful.

Rose was the first down, followed by many others.

"Hey! Rose!" She called.

"How many left for you?" Rose replied.

She folded up her map. "Three," said Callie, "but the next one is a problem."

Barry, last in line, dropped to the floor, letting the nine others enter the training camp. Each held a different weapon.

Callie mentally counted them, subtracting Barry and Rose. "Where's Marie? And I thought there were ten in that one?"

She spun one of her Dualies on her left hand. "They're both in the bunker. One was Simon's sister."

Another Inkling jumped in, also not bothering to use the ladder.

"We found him, too."

Sid, just before he hit the ground, raised his weapon to not break it.

Callie's eyes widened in recognition. "Him? He survived?"

"Yes," he said, standing from the kneel he landed in. "This weapon was a huge part of it. Thanks!"

"Did you hide somewhere?" Callie said, taking a step forward. Rose picked up a nearby marker, but she didn't pay much attention to her.

He leaned on the bristles of his weapon, planting the hilt on the floor. "There's a deserted subway near the Square I just happened to be close to when the attack started."

An idea was forming in Callie's mind. "Do you mind helping us out more? Did Rose explain the situation?" She took the map out again.

"She did," said Sid, pushing away from the Brush and walking over to her to see the map. "And no, I'd happily do it."

She saw Rose enter the training camp holding three ink tanks. Each one was marked "Small."

"Look at this," Callie said, and she pointed at Moray Towers.

—

"Agent 3, you're a natural!"

So said the owner of Ammo Knights as Simon connected the two halves of a Roller with a screwdriver. A model of a basic Splat Roller, which Simon assembled himself, was complete.

"Is it really that? This seems really easy."

Sheldon's goggled displayed a glint as he said, "No! You're just overwhelmingly good at this! I haven't seen this type of talent since-"

"Okay," Simon said, cutting him off. "So that's a Splat Roller. What about a Hero Roller?"

"Not too different!" he replied, ready to go on another rant, but he stopped himself and only said, "it just has a backup compressor. Also the heat regulator and, uh, most of the other parts look different.

"Does she really need the backup compressor, though?" Simon closed his eyes and pressed his fist to his chin, deep in thought.

"Well, if the only ink around is already compressed, then no."

"Would it be possible to add a small motor in its place so the Roller can spin on its own? Something like a Sprinkler, but weaker and really distracting to opponents?"

"A motor? So it would be heavy like a Dynamo?"

"That's not it. The reason that thing has a motor is so it can move forward and spread ink farther. What I'm talking about is a motor only used when the Roller is off the ground, so it could spin easily."

"...I don't know. I've never tried it. It's illegal in Turf War. But I like the idea! Let's do it!"

The unmistakable sound of the bunker door opening reached their ears, interrupting Simon's train of thought.

"...After we see who that is!"

A few quiet but distinct footsteps rung through the main room and through the door, into the room where the two sat.

"Simon?" a quiet voice called.

In a second, Simon bounded from where he was, hoping beyond his wildest imaginations that the voice came from who he thought it was.

He burst through the doorway and shot his gaze to the stairwell.

"Morgan!" He yelled, ecstatic to see his sister again.

They didn't exchange so much as a handshake. It was engraved into their subconscious. Morgan's time in the orphanage taught her that any sign of affection, even between siblings, was dangerous.

Simon grew past that through his relationship with Callie, but still refrained from offering an embrace to Morgan. She's had a hard life.

Orphanage, prison, shades.

Marie peered awkwardly from behind and didn't bother saying anything before Simon realized after an uncomfortably long time that she was there too.

"Eh- Come in!" He said. "Lounge is that way, avoid the tables."

As he led them to the lounge, he called Sheldon over.

"I'm coming!" He called back. "Just jotting down a few notes!"

Simon endured the arduous task of waiting until Cap'n Cuttlefish was in earshot to ask her his plethora of questions.

"Who's that?" Sheldon said unexpectedly from the other side of the main room, suspiciously inspecting every visible inch of the intruder.

"Relax," Simon said, looking back. "It's just my sister. Come on, you should hear this too."

He opened the door to the lounge, where Cap'n Cuttlefish was staring at a copy of the map of the city dotted with red and blue circles.

"It's my sister," he said preemptively.

"Who?"

Morgan warily stepped into the lounge and smiled nervously, mentally preparing herself for yet another interrogation.

—

Rose dropped the ink tanks labeled "Small" and picked up one of the same size. Despite the labeling, all of the ink tanks were actually about the same size. The "larger" ones just somehow carried more ink, but still weighed the same.

The maze that was the training camp extended deep underground, as was the nature of Octolings. Thankfully, the storage room was only one floor down and contained everything from ink tanks to spare Hero weapons to lost keys.

She took the nearest flight of stairs upwards. Octavio stood there, who she kept a steady eye on.

Two other Octolings stood before him. One gave him an Octoling salute by taking his left index finger, placing it on top of his left middle finger, and bringing it to his left eyebrow.

"Sir!" He said, seemingly on instinct. "This recruit has mastered every weapon class!"

Rose walked slower, wanting to hear the entire conversation. People who managed to do that were rare.

"Is that so?" Octavio said. "What's your name?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw the Octoling in question look up. She hesitated as if she was shy or if she forgot her name in the pressure.

Rose took a mental note of the only line the Octoling said.

"Sky. My name is Sky."

—

 **So, if any of you have any predictions on what will happen anytime between here and the end, I'd like to hear them if possible.**

 **I won't confirm or deny any of them, I just want to know what this story feels like to an outsider.**


	51. Even More Survivors

The new moon was suspended in the blanket of the night sky, surrounded by millions of smaller lights twinkling in a quilt of luminous darkness. A breeze made its way through the alleys and corridors of the city, rustling an occasional tree and disturbing the waste carelessly left by passerby.

Everything was peaceful, as the citizens of Inkopolis had already brought their daily routines to a close, with nobody, save the wandering insects of the night, awake and alert.

The unfamiliar silhouette of a small flying object carrying its larger cargo soared through the air. It picked a place to drop the contents, and the cooler it carried did not stir.

One was stationed outside of Grizzco.

One on the harbor.

One near Urchin Underpass.

Many were scattered, but none moved.

The lid that topped one moved a fraction of an inch.

And again.

And again.

In unison, the cooler's lids flew off, and countless soldiers flowed from them.

And the roar of battle ensued.

Many inhabitants were roused from their slumber by the deafening sound of the distant screech of another avian.

Alarms sounded in warning, children screamed in fear.

Yet another flying object shot through the sky, hiding each star from view in turn, but this one was much larger. Four jets of flame shot from its wings, illuminating the immediate area with a terrifying dazzle.

The monitor that centered Deca Tower whirred to life, briefly displaying the shadowed figure of an exhausted person.

The Eagle screeched once more, perching on top of the tower and discharging a ray of luminous ink.

An elderly man, once a great captain, hobbled cautiously though the chaos within the maze of skyscrapers.

He raised his cane and pulled a concealed trigger, carving a line though the ranks of soldiers.

Then the remaining soldiers were upon him.

He shot anywhere he could, but there were too many.

A viridian sphere landed on the pavement and promptly erupted in a dazzle of lights, clearing the area.

The weapon master of the city stood nearby, and he chucked the Rainmaker at the crowd of soldiers.

The old man charged toward him as fast as he could, and the Rainmanker detonated, taking a crowd of soldiers with it.

It appeared in the bunker.

The groans of the tower struggling to support the immense weight of the beast that stood upon it sent bursts of sound across the mayhem, overpowering the collective noises of a million screams of fear.

A citizen, like countless others, rested in a closet, cowering in horror. The door was being kicked down; its thumps of force howled, then the hard boom of it falling to the floor followed by the lighter creaks of the closet failing to protect her reached her ears.

A deafening crash sounded from outside, then darkness.

—

"Shouldn't you..." Sheldon whispered as Morgan buried her face in the nearest pillow.

"No," Simon said solemnly. "I can't."

"So," said the old voice of Cap'n Cuttlefish. "That's what happened to the citizens." He bowed his head for a moment in respect. "Does anyone know how long it lasted?"

"Well, from what Agent 1 told me," Sheldon began, "morning. But we don't know how long after that it was."

"It doesnt matter now," Simon said with determined force. "We're fighting it no matter how long it was."

—

As the sun fell under the horizon, sending an orange hue across the sky, the fruits of the OATH's labors were realized. A map hung from the wall in the training camp, with ten dots crossed off.

Every monitor, speaker, and radio whirred to life as the voice of hope echoed though the city.

"Hey...Inkopolis..." said the exotic girl who was known for being the face of the city.

"I know things are looking pretty bad, but there's still some of us left." She sighed, expelling her breath in a long stream of air.

"We're in Inkopolis Plaza. Remember that place? You can find it with the green tower nearby. I'll be waiting out there for you. These two'll be there too." The camera panned to display the Squid Sisters in what looked to be identical casual clothing. Callie exhibited a nearly unrecognizable smile and waved lightly.

"We plan to fight it. We're getting out brothers, our sisters, our parents back. We have a plan. It doesn't matter how old you are. The least you could do is cheer us on.

"Well, uh, anyway. Don't get cooked, stay off the hook."

The impromptu broadcast ended.

—

Rose slept in the bunker, which had a surprising amount of amenities and hospitality potential.

She awoke to the automatic electrical light.

She yawned, thankful for the sleep after the restlessness of yesterday.

She donned her Hero Suit and got her Dualies, descending to the lounge.

"Morning, Cap'n!" She shouted, bursting out of the lounge before he could respond.

During the night, nobody had recognized Callie and Marie as Agents 1 and 2. They reportedly were only seen as the celebrities from two years ago. Rose read this on her communicator and prepared herself for the duel with Pearl to decide who was better with the class.

She again leapt into the training camp, landing in the entrance room.

The amount of noise from the camp interior was multiplied profusely, and Rose smiled. remembering that the amount of recruits now reached almost 300.

Pearl was already there, outside of the main door, spinning one of her Hero Dualies in her hand. She nodded, acknowledging her presence. Barry would be the judge of the match if ever one was needed.

The match would use one color of ink, and it would be decided by how many shots would land on the opponent within an allotted time frame.

They entered the camp, and Rose recalled what she heard about the one called "Sky." She still said nothing about it because of a lack of reason.

They descended a few floors, coming to a square room meant for sparring or a practice room meant for any weapon class, Barry was there, along with the Simon, Callie, Marie, and Marina.

"Step on the lights," Barry said, as two sections of the floor opposite one another glowed with phosphorescence.

"Three," he said.

"Two,

"One,

"Begin!"

—

 **Whoops, short chapter! Sorry guys, I just expelled all of my writing strength on an essay. Also, the transitions are terrible. Next week will be better, I promise.**


	52. Dualie Duel, Charger School

**Ugh, last chapter was terrible since it went too fast. This one is much better.**

—

But neither moved.

The duel began, yet both were sizing up their opponent.

Rose had never fought one-on one before, but she had taken on many hordes of enemies. Now, she could focus all of her attention on a single target.

Despite only being two thirds of Pearl's age, she was still smaller, which gave her an immediate advantage, as well as probably being faster as well.

Rose took the first step to the left, off of the glowing platform in her corner of the room. She was using the corners of her eye to internalize the structure of the arena as well.

Unlike a traditional Octarian arena, the floor was square-shaped. It was ridged, with the lowest point being in the middle. A few lights—meant to illuminate the entirety of the chamber and not just a patch on the floor—hung from the ceiling.

The entire room was about twenty feet high, from the lowest point to the ceiling.

Since they both started on the high ground, neither wanted to directly engage the other for fear of gaining a disadvantage.

Rose jumped to her right, aiming to spark something.

It worked. Pearl unleashed a torrent of ink at her, but Rose anticipated the attack and dodged out of the way. She didn't know if she was hit.

As she landed in the center, the barrage continued. Rose bounded up the ridged floor and tossed a Splat Bomb, the only allowed sub-weapon, behind her shoulder. Without checking to see if she was hit, she reached the top and dodge-rolled to the side, trying to maintain a sense of unpredictability. She started shooting and trusted Barry would keep an accurate count.

Pearl dashed around as many shots as she could and even shot a few out of the air.

Rose had an idea. She looked up and noticed the grating on the ligts on the ceiling. She rolled away, holstered her weapons, and leapt to the light, her fingers slipping through the small grating of the dim light. Thankfully, the light didn't burn her.

She swung using the momentum of her jump and somehow found herself standing on the top side of another light with one hand gripping the pole. She took one of her a Dualies and located Pearl with a surprised look plastered on her face. The spectators looked the same, but Simon wasn't there anymore. Maybe he had something to do.

She saw Pearl inking any nearby ground to charge the special, so she did the same on her side. They were on opposite sides of the room again, so the shots wouldn't reach.

The few agonizingly slow seconds passed. Hers charged slower than Pearl's because only one gun was shooting.

Once she had her Splashdown prepared, she, in a wave of confidence, leapt to the other light. The room became dimmer as she pushed her feet against it.

Without stopping to look for Pearl, she Skydived to the ground, sure that it would engulf the entire room.

The barrage of ink that swirled around her was twice that of a usual Skydive. She closed her eyes in instinctive apprehension and, when she opened them, was met with darkness.

The corners where each started and Pearl were the only remaining exterior sources of light until Marie turned on a flashlight and aimed it through the window from the judge's room near the ceiling.

"Before you two broke the lights," said Barry from the dim edges of the light, "it was a draw. We'll call it a draw." His voice had tones of annoyance.

Rose realized that Pearl also performed a Skydive with her, protecting herself from the force of the ink.

It was decided. Both of them were to lead and train the Dualies division of the OATH army.

—

"It's done! Try it in the test room!"

Sheldon was again brimming with excitement. The Hero Roller Mk II was complete, and it was all thanks to Simon's simple idea.

Throughout the night, Sheldon and Simon tinkered with the motor and failed multiple times, but just as Simon had to leave to see the beginning of Rose and Pearl's duel, they finished.

They reached the test room through yet another secret door within the bunker.

Simon gripped the handle as Sheldon watched from a distance.

He raised it and flipped the switch on the handle with his thumb, and tiny splashes of ink, each the size of a cork, flew in every direction that wasn't blocked by the handle.

He tried to swing the Hero Roller sideways as the motor still ran, and the ink launched further than usual, but was obviously weaker as a trade. However, once he brought it down on a training dummy, it exploded with a wider radius.

There was one more thing to try. He swing the weapon downwards as it was still spinning and ran with it. The Roller moved almost as fast as a Brush, but the trail it made was only as thick as it, making it narrower than a Carbon Roller.

He nodded at Sheldon, and they decided it was perfect.

They took the regular path to the surface.

Outside, the magenta of the weapon's frame seemed to glow in a wonderful contrast to the dull grey of the concrete, even further beautified by the orange hues of the early sunrise.

He lifted the Roller skyward in triumph. The first weapon that he was attributed to, even if only partially, was in his hands.

"Sheldon..." he said.

"What is it?" said the shop owner through his wide grin

"...Thanks."

"The pleasure is mine! It works! It really works!"

"Is it alright if I give this to Callie?"

"Go right ahead, apprentice, you have my permission!"

He left Sheldon behind as he opened the hatch and fell through it.

Immediately, he saw Callie resting with one foot against the wall. "How'd the duel go?" he said.

"Draw," said she. Then she noticed what he held. "Is that-"

"Yours," he said, tossing it across the short distance between them. "Yep."

She caught the Roller effortlessly. "Magenta?" she asked. A grin quickly spread across her face.

"Your favorite color," he said, walking up to her. "Try the switch on the side."

Her thumb was in the perfect place to push it forward. The ink sprayed everywhere, coving the walls and floor with an array of ink.

While Callie seemed surprised, she didn't say anything. She just looked at Simon, who was shielding his face by holding up his arm. "Like it? Try flicking it or running."

"...This thing is perfect. Thanks, S."

—

Marie was assigned to train the Charger division. She wore a pair of regular sunglasses before entering the room since she wanted to reveal herself to as little people as possible. Unlike her Agent disguise, this was no mouth covering.

"...There don't seem to be that many of you." She was looking at a group of about twenty, while others had groups reaching into the fifties. The Dualies division had about a hundred, mainly because they were the most important. The other groups only existed so the Dualies class's weaknesses can't be exploited to no end.

Nobody responded.

"...but I still commend your conviction. Chargers aren't that easy to learn, but when you do, they're powerful."

Again, nobody said anything.

"Hello? Anybody have a response to that?"

"Who are you?" said some random guy near the back.

"About the Charger class? No? Nothing? This isn't the military, you can talk to me."

After a few seconds, the group erupted.

"Where are the targets?"

"What about your weapon?"

"What is this I've heard about 'holding'?"

"Okay, okay!" she said loudly. "One at a time!" She let out a short exhale. This will be annoying. "The targets," she pressed a button on a remote in her pocket, and the training balloons inflated about 15 yards away, "are those. My weapon is going to be the same as yours." she pointed her thumb to a lineup of basic Splat Chargers hanging on the wall. "And we'll get to holding a charge later, that's a more advanced topic.

"Unfortunately, with our limitations, only five of you can shoot at once. You'll stand on the red line. Grab a weapon. Any volunteers?"

After a few seconds, one person stepped forward, followed by a few more.

"Uh, miss?" said a quiet voice in the back. "I don't think I like this type of gun..."

"That's fine," Marie said, secretly relieved that there's was one less recruit to deal with. "Any other weapon class catch your eye? They did explain the basics of each, right?"

"I- I don't know."

"Head back up to the top floor. There's a guy there and he can help you switch classes." She was referring to Barry, but Octavio, who nobody knew the name of, was there as well.

"Alright!" said Marie. "...I'll be honest with you, I've never taught anyone how to do this before. Try shooting anyway."

Three pitifully short lines of ink were instantly propelled from the barrels of three. A few seconds later, two more, powerful streams flew from the others. One balloon was hit and popped. The other stood clean.

Marie blinked under the sunglasses, mildly disheartened by the sad performance.

"...Okay, do that again, but this time, you three, hold down the trigger until you hear the sound from the weapon, and you, make sure the circle thing is pointed at the balloon."

She let out an inaudible sigh.

—

"So, how are we going to split the work?" said Rose as she tried to spark a conversation with Pearl.

"Dunno."

The Dualie division's meeting place was on the tenth floor, the lowest of the training camp.

"Do you know how experienced they are?"

"Nah. But most of 'em are probably bad."

Rose grimaced at the floor. She knew it herself, but hearing it from someone else was different.

Pearl broke the silence by saying, "We're gonna have to tell those guys how to shoot first. Then I guess dodge-rolling. Then the part that matters." By this, she meant Skydive.

"Hey," Rose said, stopping her. "Our entrance is here."

To their right stood a doorway labeled "Staff Entry".

They paid no heed to the regular entrance, which was much further down the hall.

After yet another flight of stairs, this one going upwards, the two were greeted with a daunting task.

They were on a raised platform, looking out over a sprawling crowd.

And they were expected to transform this assortment of people from novices to soldiers as quickly as possible.

—

 **If any of you have any comments about any character being, well, in character, feel free to tell me as well. I want to** **make all of this feel as natural as possible.**

 **And I didn't have a connection yesterday, so this one's a bit late. Sorry again.**


	53. Shrinking Ratios

Hey, **now I'm back with a chapter that's on time and not dinosaur feces! Rejoice!**

—

This many?

Rose decided that it must have been Octavio that managed to reach the same conclusion as Sheldon and Cap'n Cuttlefish regarding the Dualies and Skydive. It was their only chance against an army of that size.

But still, the trainer-to-trainee ratio was about one to fifty, and Rose as determined to make that number shrink. She had no idea how to teach, after all.

Among the sprawling crowd, whose hundred disconnected voices reverberated about the massive chamber, Rose spotted the one who called herself Sky. What was she doing here? Hasn't she mastered everything already?

Nevertheless, if Sky had truly mastered the Dualie class of weapon, she would be a great asset in training as well.

Pearl located a megaphone hanging from the railing of their raised rectangular pedestal situated on the far side of the room. The authorities seriously knew what was ahead of the two and only gave them a megaphone to assist them.

Regardless, she turned it on, and the action was predictably followed by static and a high-pitched tone. Rose winced at the sound, but Pearl was unaffected. It stole the attention of the closer recruits, who had varying reactions to finding a celebrity this close to them.

"Hey," she said into the megaphone, testing it. As planned, her voice was amplified profusely. "Yo, up here."

Rose snatched the megaphone out of her hands, annoyed at how slow things were sounding.

A cheer erupted from the plethora of recruits once they noticed Pearl. Rose waited patiently for the screams to stop.

"...Are you done?" she said. "Good. First of all, we need to clear some things up. This division is the most..." she stopped, finding the word for it, "vital to this plan. I assume that this was explained to you already?"

Pearl refrained from wrenching the megaphone back.

Splashes of ink flew to various places on the ground as Rose repeatedly fired one of her Dualies with her free hand. "Inkopolis has been cleared. Barely anyone is left. Almost all of the citizens have been forced to serve in the enemy's army."

The crowd shifted uncomfortably, as if they were realizing for the first time what they were expected to do.

"You were pulled here unexpectedly, and I am sorry for that. However, it is what we must do to free everyone."

Pearl was surprized. Even though they met each other yesterday, Rose seemed like a completely different person once she was bestowed with the authority of the megaphone.

"Despite what you think, there is only one enemy. The entire army has been hypnotized by one Octarian, and his name is Akash Octrope."

Whispers of confusion swept the entire room.

"How, exactly, are we going to best the army?" The strategy was explained to her and the rest of them yesterday by Barry. Octavio was nearby, but he said nothing.

"The opposition will not use the Dualie class of weapons." At least, that's what Callie said in her description of the attack. "So, they won't be able to do this. Everyone, back up." As she handed the amplifying machine to Pearl, she grabbed her other Dualie and leapt over the railing like it was a hurdle.

She looked to be suspended in the air before she fell at a blinding speed.

Right as she touched the floor, a twister of ink enveloped her in a deafening mass of green. Without any visible explosion, each strip of green surrounding her expanded and launched outwards, nearly coming in contact with the ceiling. It was a wave, a wave of lime that coated her half of the room in a solid coat of a new color.

As the cacophonous yells and shouts from the crowd fell, the ink fell to the ground, blanketing the floor as well. Rose knelt in the center, with one knee on the floor and a fist pressed against it.

If there were any previous doubts about their young-looking trainer, they were dispelled then and there.

"Twenty of you, step forward," she shouted as she raised her head and stood from her kneel. "Split into two groups of ten."

Even Pearl was impressed.

—

"Of course. Head to the fifth floor. I'll notify the instructor that you have changed."

The Octoling nodded and turned away to the stairs.

Barry, at his computer, changed the records to indicate that a Charger trainee has changed to a Blaster trainee.

Octavio still stood in mysterious silence. He wasn't in octopus form—his preferred one—and has said nearly nothing when others were around. In reality, he was the boss, so why was Barry doing all of the talking?

The answer came to him quickly. Octavio was afraid. Not of the trainees, but of losing them. And letting Akash win. He allowed himself a small, almost unnoticeable smile. It was satisfying to find a weakness in that stone-cold gaze.

He has ordered Barry and everyone who did know his name to not mention it to anyone, regardless of who they were. The unspoken exception was each other.

Octavio was especially quiet when Doc- Miss Ida was listening to the plan with Pearl and the entire NSS.

It made sense, really. The only reason the Octolings were up here on the surface on the first place was to escape the underground society, and, by extension, him.

The situation was odd. Serious, but odd. Octrope's army has pushed the NSS and Octavio, once their biggest enemy, to cooperate. How unanticipated!

Also, what would happen after the war with Octrope was over? His next target would most likely be above ground, so once the army, littered with Octolings, is free, what would happen then? They're on the surface, so would that all be taken away again?

He didn't present the question to Octavio.

And what of the matter of prejudice? Octrope's actions would definately cause extreme backlash. How would Octolings cope with that?

And them he realized he had been rambling. In his thoughts. Thought rambling.

He shook off his daze and went back to work counting the numbers and planning for more scenarios.

—

The view from Inkopolis Tower was unexpectedly peaceful, considering it overlooked failure. It was too dangerous to go any farther, for the risk of attack was constantly growing.

"You're not an instructor down there?" Simon asked, tilting his head in incredulity.

"Nope," Callie replied playfully. "They said I wasn't 'disciplined' enough."

He raised an eyebrow. "Can't argue with them on that one."

He gazed at the patterns of lime ink on what remained of Inkopolis Plaza. On the horizon, the sunrise's orange hues were diminishing to make way for the light blue hues of the sky above.

"What happened to your sister?" Callie asked.

"She's with Marina. Determined to do something. No clue what, though."

"Nothing about that Octo being famous?"

"No, she didn't know she was."

Oh. Right. Hostage.

"What're you planning to do then?" he asked

"Join the technology team like you two, I guess." Her voice dropped to a snarky tone. "Not like I've done any of that before. Wait, how many of the people from last night did that?"

He thought for a moment, realizing the grave mistake. His eyes widened in shock. "...None. They were never told of that. Come on, we gotta change this."

Callie, in a fit of excitement, ambitiously hauled herself over the railing on the Tower and fell to the ground, lifting the Hero Roller Mk II to avoids damaging it. Simon soon followed.

The trek to Barry's and probably Octavio's office was a short one.

Simon burst into the room and slammed his hand onto Barry's desk. It was disconcerting to see him behind it and not Octavio, who was in a nearby chair and at a smaller desk of his own. Maybe he was trying to maintain an aura of mystery?

"What?" Barry said nonchalantly. "Oh, are you here because we need more weapons? I'll make that announcement later, they need time to get used to this. If I say something now, they'll flock outside like birds."

"Not just weapons, we-"

"I spoke with D- Miss Ida and your crab guy yesterday. They agreed to lead the tech and weaponry team."

—

Most of the day passed without incident in the Charger division. Marie used the time to further act as the orientation and learn the skill levels of her trainees.

Among the group of twenty-one Charger recruits, three were competent. They could shoot, aim, and hold their charge. Additionally, they could hit a moving target, which the balloons could simulate.

Eleven others could shoot and hit most of them time, but they struggled with moving targets.

The remaining seven have clearly never touched a weapon, or at least a Charger, before in their life.

The PA system, installed by Marina and a small team yesterday, let out a short tone to signify that someone was going to say something.

"Attention, OATH army." The voice of Barry. "By now, you have likely been told of the position we are in. We have allowed most of today to pass so you and your instructors may learn what the..."

Marie ignored most of the rambling, primarily because it didn't apply to her. In her mind, she was planning more training sequences.

The voice went on. Something, something, Ida, something, limit twenty.

"Instructors, at this time, please allow anyone who would like to apply to leave the room."

Sheepishly, one guy at the back, part of the seven novices, took a few steps back and turned to run, bursting through a door almost as fast as swimming.

"Am I that scary?" Marie muttered. "The rest of you staying?" she said, louder.

Nobody else left, so she took it as a yes.

"Okay. Great. You three, tell that group how to hold a charge. I'll work with these seven. No, now it's six."

—

"He said a limit of twenty, why did so many of them leave?" Rose asked under her breath.

Sky was in her group of ten. Pearl was on the other side of the room, speaking with another ten.

Throughout the day, the two have blasted through the crowd, each ten at a time, and from each group they picked one to help with the training. One to fifty was ridiculous.

She really did master the Dualie class; Sky knew all of the minor technical details, like how dodging midair speeds up the fall. Witnessing Skydive for the first time allowed her to just somehow know how it worked.

However, even though she mastered the class didn't mean she was better than Rose. In a test of skill, Rose defeated her, but she was one of the toughest opponents she had taken on. With any other class of weapon, Rose would have been crushed.

Also, she rarely spoke and only opened her mouth when necessary.

The rest were anywhere between no experience to slight experience, the worst group she had seen.

Her choice was obvious. "You, what's your name?" She said this to not sound like a stalker, for she already knew entirely well what that Octoling's name was.

With her smooth, mature voice, she said her name with a suspicious lack of a last one.

"Okay, Sky, go stand over there with those people. Don't worry, you're not in trouble, I'll explain the rest with Pearl later."

With a nonverbal nod, she somehow graciously walked near the podium on the far side.


	54. Training

**If** **you** **haven't figured it out yet, I'm using the morning scenes to practice my vivid writing.**

 **See** , **look** **at** **this.**

—

As the morning star climbed over the horizon, bathing the scenery with a golden light, dawn once again blessed the peaks and valleys of the city. Shadows stretched far beyond the woods and plains, and Simon behind them as he ascended the path to the tip of Inkopolis Tower.

Already standing there, he saw Rose, leaning against the railing with a whiteness in her eyes, as if they themselves were luminescent and not a distorted reflection of sunlight.

She was tracing the combined silhouette of the mountains in the distance with her bright eyes, not noticing him or the obvious noise he was making with the clank of each step upon the metallic staircase.

More inconspicuous was Marie, who was, instead, sitting near the railing on the opposite side of the rounded floor, giving her own little glow to combat the intensity of the sun. She acknowledged him with a slight, almost indiscernible nod.

He stood there, one step below the top, and pondered the immense dissimilarity of his friends. The Great Zapfish, oddly untouched by the attack, soared overhead. Although, with the thousands of Golden Eggs in the opposition's hand, there was really no point in taking it,

Finally, he took the last step to the top, ensuring its volume was louder so as to attract the other's attention.

Like a startled cat, Rose tensed for a split second and placed her hands on her weapons. Once she saw the unmistakable shape of Simon, she relaxed and returned to the mountainsides. Simon was unperturbed by the disturbance.

He saw Marie crack a smile, despite her almost pointing a gun at him. "Good reflex." As if she needed to say it out loud.

He took a seat and leaned on the railing, perpendicular to the line that separated the other two. "Why're we up here?"

Without a word, Rose reached into her pocket and removed a folded, slightly crumpled piece of paper. The one from Grizzco.

It seemed forbidden to break the silence of the early hours.

She repeatedly ran her eyes across the one line on it that chilled her more than the rest.

You are never safe.

You are never safe.

You are never safe.

Her arm moved behind her, prompting either Simon or Marie to take it.

Eventually, it was pulled from her grasp, but by whom, she did not know.

"Oh, this?" It was Marie's voice. "Yeah, should we have night guards until this ends?"

Another rhythmic pattern of footsteps reached her ears, which she assumed was Callie, for nobody said a word about it. A quick glance behind her back confirmed her guess.

"No," said Rose, reluctantly voicing her concern. "What about after? I've been thinking, what if he has someone to replace him if something happens to him? And what about Eileen and her brothers? We don't even know if the fourth child is a spy and the story is just a cover."

Silence ruled again as her voice fell and the clouds gained an impressive contrast of opaqueness and translucence of the multi-colored glow, giving the sky the beauty of a painting and the clarity of a photograph.

"Guess you were right, Callie," Simon said. "We might have to go into hiding after this."

Callie's frustration gnawed at her, but only her shoulders sagged. "Again," she whispered.

Rose heard the rusting of paper from directly behind her. As she reached the highest peak she could see, Marie joined her, fixing her face on the jagged rays of light, and handed her the paper, which she folded and stored in her pocket again.

"But for how long?" said Callie, who joined her on the other side. "Do we find anyone who willingly served Akash and just throw them in jail?"

Simon, the last one, stood to Callie's side and took her hand in his. Instead of the sunset, they stared at each other.

And then Rose finally put two and two together, but said nothing about it since, as she thought about it, it was staring her in the face this whole time.

"No," Marie said. "Octavio'll take care of it. He'll do something to the free ones. Besides, it's too dangerous for us to actively search for them."

"This has all happened so fast," Simon said. "None of us really had the time to think about this. If Octavio wasn't there, we would still all be with Akash. He got us. He was too fast. What will we do about it?" When nobody said anything, he continued,

"The whole time, we thought we would win, but really. How?"

He let the question hang in the air. Yes, they knew there was a plan. They knew there were hundreds fighting alongside them.

But would it be enough?

Off in the distance, in the lowest valley of the mountainside, Rose saw a fleeting glimpse of a silhouette of an eight-limbed creature, with a glow behind it the same color as the sun. It was too disfigured to be an octopus, and too small to be yet another metallic beast.

But when she blinked, it was gone. She paid no heed to it and passed it off as a mere figment of her imagination.

The memory of the image slipped away.

—

Twenty of the most proficient willing recruits joined the tech team, ten for weaponry and ten for everything else.

"Dismissed!" Marina said, allowing them to break the neat arrays they were in and return to the bottom floor, or the bunking floor of the facility. They deserved the rest, for they were awake all night performing the tests that she and Sheldon constructed.

The floor directly above it, which is where the test was administered, kept the melancholic color scheme of grey and black that decorated the entire facility.

It was a tall and wide room, similar to the Dualie division's, designed as an all-purpose floor. The two floors were not considered part of the training camp, but they were the eleventh and twelfth, below the Dualie floor and still connected as part of a larger whole.

Sheldon was near the other corner, gathering scraps Andy unused parts of various weapon classes.

She approached him and asked, "Are we using this room as the TT HQ?"

He nearly dropped the handle of a Slosher, but spoke without stopping his task. "No, no, I've already planned for that. We're using the bunker, but locking the paths to the lounge and the workspace for me and my apprentice. The third door near the back which nobody ever notices is where we'll meet. I've divided the area inside and given you more space to work since weapons are pretty small. However, I'm terribly sorry to ask this of you, but would you mind helping me move all of the workbenches to one area so nobody trips over them?"

Marina took a moment to process the lightning-fast speech of the crab. "What about the passcode to the bunker? Are we leaving it open so nobody finds out?"

"Precisely!"

The PA system near the staircase sounded it's tone. "Would Ms. Ida please report to my office?"

Marina grew tense, but she knew Barry wouldn't to anything to her other than a poilite request. He respected her too much.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Sheldon interrupted her before she even began, saying, "No, go ahead! If you're not back for a while, I'll assume you're off doing something important."

She slowly backed away. It was scary how Sheldon could change his mind almost as fast as he speaks.

—

"It's time to initiate phase 1 of the plan."

Marina, Callie, and Simon stood on the other side of Barry's desk.

"Already?" Callie said. "It's day two!"

"The earlier we get this part done, the better," he rested his elbows and clasped his hands against the desk, one of the few wooden objects in the area. Despite its material, it still appeared gray due to the gloomy, dim lighting.

The elder with the wisened face, still, sat at his side desk, doing... something.

"I'm sending you three on it." There were no protests. "Any more, and we risk being found from miles away. So remember. Don't be loud." He stressed the final sentence. "As far as we know, the city is clear, but we know barely anything about outside. If Akash or any of his unhypnotized-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Simon said. "But why us three? Only one of us has any clue what to do."

Barry frowned. "First of all, we need guards to escort and protect her while she works. And can you really think of anyone else who has a clue?"

No answer. "Good. Now go. And take this route." He tossed a map at Simon, but Callie jumped in front of him and caught it playfully.

The three turned their backs to the desk and walked to the slightly brighter entrance.

The door shut behind them, once again introducing them to the disarmed traps and overwhelmingly dull colors.

Once they were a distance from the door, Simon spoke up. "'Not disciplined enough.'"

Callie threw the map at him, which he grabbed without flinching.

Needless to say, Marina felt very awkward as a third wheel.

—

Rose heard the announcement on the PA system, but it was nearly drowned out by the chorus of ink being shot. Probably the train station part of the plan. She didn't pay much attention to it; her only role was to train and then fight.

Exactly 103 formed the division. They were divided into ten platoons: seven with ten each, and three with eleven.

Once again, her attention was on Sky and her eleven-strong contingent. She was different from the rest. Obviously, she was well versed in combat. That much needed no words.

No, what she noticed was that she carried an air of mystery and other indescribable emotions. Gloom? No. Boredom? Something between the two.

Whatever the case, she had the worst possible group of people, but somehow, they were making good progress. Not much progress, since it was her first day with them, but the ten weren't completely useless anymore.

Rose and Pearl made periodic checks on the various platoons and sometimes took over for each one's leader. Pearl made it clear that they were doing so not because they were too incompetent, but because they were allowing time for breaks.

"We better get better weapons soon," Rose muttered. As she watched from above on the podium, she noticed several different styles of strategy that a different weapon, like Dapple Dualies or Glooga Dualies, would suit far better. For now, they were stuck with hundreds of Splat Dualies.

Then she wondered if it was possible to translate the other weapon proficiencies to Hero Dualies, so a pair could have the strength of said Hero Dualies and the speed of Dapples.

She waved Pearl over and explained her plan. "I'll go ask Sheldon a quick question. Tell the leaders to pay attention to play styles, 'Kay?"

She nodded and flashed a toothy smile. "Gotcha."

Rose turned away and ran.

The slam of the stone slab shutting and locking resonated in the acoustics of the hall.

—

"Take a left here, and there it is," Callie held up her hand and pointed.

The train station was near the east side of the city. Here was phase 1 of the plan.

It resembled a greenhouse in shape, though the roof was white and the walls were purplish. Each of its short sides had a gaping hole, allowing easy locomotive entrance and exit.

One train in particular, a bullet train with a rounded locomotive and a curved, futuristic body, extended for several yards. It was the main vehicle of transport between Inkopolis and southern cities. Sacrificing some of the comfort, it could easily fit well over 500.

Simon was hit with a bout of nostalgia, for the scene was exactly how he remembered his first time in the city. The sky and time of day was even the same, for the sun hung suspended behind the only tree in the area.

The only thing missing was the people.

"Alright, what do we do, then?" Simon placed his hands behind his head and stretched.

"Sit back and watch," Marina dashed inside with her duffel bag swinging by her side, and then she was followed by the other two.

Phase 1 was a risky one; it relied on Akash picking a next point of attack that would run straight through the rails of the bullet train. It would have to be somewhere south or possibly a short distance north.

What were those cities? New Blue, Pufferia, Eelidu, Manowur, Sharktown-

Wait. Sharktown?

Simon's hometown?

It got him thinking again. Ever since the attack, they were cut off from the outside world. There was no news coming into Inkopolis or out of it.

"Hey, Cal?" He said. "What's happing out there?" He picked a bench in front of Marina's duffel bag, then plopped down on it. A motion detecting light flickered, shone its light, then died.

"Out where?" She sat next to him, leaving barely any distance between them. Her Roller covered the remaining space on the bench.

He stared at the ceiling like it would give him answers. "Everywhere else. Here, we know exactly what happened. Everywhere else, they're probably freaking out over all of this."

Callie realised something else. "Next place to be attacked will be as sudden as this." That helped her realize something else: the weight of the situation. It was already heavier than the train in front of her, yet...

"Next time is our only chance."

If they never reached the next city, Akash's army would grow too strong.

If they failed, there was no army.

Going to the government was no option because Inkopolis was its center.

The official army couldn't help, either. The attack would be too quick to anticipate, and if they tried going to them now, Akash would personally crush them, as he had proven he was willing to do already. And who knows if he has a spy?

The case was clear.

One chance.

No room for error.


	55. Rematch

**I'm** **back**! **Have** **a** **guess** **as** **to** **what** **the** **art** **is** **yet?**

—

Weeks flew by like unassuming crows at night. The sun rose and fell, but within the camp's restriction of natural sunlight, time seemed to slow to a halt, trapped within an exhausting limbo of repetitive routines and dim lighting.

The train was repaired, fueled, and maintained.

Without a soul on the surface, dust was able to be gathered in sheets of reflective white, but the lightest bluster sent them away in a graceful yet unruly formation.

The forest, unstirred by anything save the innocent wildlife, swayed and danced with the wind. Leaves, touched by the hand of autumn, fell and crinkled on the dirt, usually crushed by a clumsy paw or talon.

But this time, someone who was not a wild animal sprinted through, crumpling the countless fallen hands of the mighty trees.

He leaped and bounded over stray roots and uneven ground, drawing a half-circle around a boulder buried in the ground with his path.

The light, once he escaped the woods, assaulted him, threatening to blind his darkness-fitting eyes.

Nevertheless, he still ran, shielding his face from the cloud of dust he found.

The deserted form of Inkopolis was becoming morbidly fitting for him, but only because he was used to it.

As he navigated his way through the maze of corridors that lined the ground, he became steadily closer to the green construction that stood tall and proud above the rectangular shapes of the other buildings.

Rounding one last corner brought him to a basin. He slowed down as he approached, for the hatch was not wide enough to accommodate a forward leap.

He landed and caused reverberations to enter the next room, from which a door burst open. Barry, who held his signature knockback Blaster in hand, lowered it once he confirmed the noise's source. "Sir!" He said, saluting. How did the espionage go?"

"Gather anyone who's important here. Now!"

Immediately, a stray piece of detached, heavy concrete fell and lodged itself in the hatch's opening, barring any entry or exit from the camp.

—

Simon shoved aside the door to Ammo Knights. He heard a rumble from underground, and it seemed like it came from the surface. He left Cap'n Cuttlefish and Morgan down there. Neither were fit for combat.

In his hand, he held an upgraded Hero Shot. It's range rivaled that of a Jet Squelcher and still kept the fire rate of a Splattershot.

What greeted him was a piece of a street, large enough to block the hatch.

Callie came behind him and placed her thumb on the motor's switch.

"You two again, huh?" Somebody jumped from the top of Inkopolis Tower. The Octoling wore a cape and brandished another Hero Shot duplicate. "Remember me? We met in the Piranha, right?" Eileen Octrope.

"We found you, okay? We know about your army down there. Really want smart to be that lazy with your security."

"What do you want?" Simon bellowed.

"Alright, alright, I'm getting to that. Get the other two and surrender, and we won't hurt you or anyone else down there." It was followed with a mutter of something.

Callie's thumb twitched, almost flipping the switch and sacrificing the small advantage of surprise they had. "We?" She said as she backed against the wall of Ammo Knights and adjusted her eyes, broadening her field of vision.

"Come on, finish it..." Simon whispered.

Eileen chuckled lightly and threw off the cape. The scene was hauntingly similar to when Akash did the same with his purple cloak. She snapped, cueing two more to follow her down the Tower. Faint yet true memory told them that these two were called Rocky and Jack. They held the same weapons as they did in the Piranha. One covered most of his body with a Brush and the other wielded a Blaster with a single hand.

"I'lll take that as a no. Unless..."

"Never!" Callie barked.

Eileen sighed, then her siblings both flashed toothy grins. Obviously, they were eager for battle.

Simon and Callie were already forming individual strategies. He planned to keep his distance, for he had the range advantage, and Callie planned to confuse them with a twisting, convoluted path with her Roller.

The clap used to signify the beginning of a battle was absent, but it still resounded in the mind, and they were off.

The three separated, probably trying to trap them. Simon backed away and shot any bit of ground he could find and keep the ground coverage. He swam through the shine of the ink and circled the edge of the basin. Once he emerged, he pressed the trigger again without hesitation. The quick action caught the Blaster user in the back. Before he could counter with a shot of his own, Simon ducked into the ink and was almost hit by the blasting orb that soared over his head. Emerging again, he dropped two bombs simultaneously to either side of him and fired forward with the little ink he had left. The enemy fired behind himself and fell backwards into the purplish coat, narrowly avoiding the entire onslaught of flying damage.

Callie wasn't as lucky. She was surrounded by the other two and trapped against a wall. Both of them found an Inkwhip hidden among their clothing and turned them on. Callie's mind raced as she racked her brain for a way out of the situation, then she noticed how they were holding the Inkwhips

She flipped the switch, and the whirr of the motor from within signified the automatic spin. She jabbed the entire thing toward the two, striking Eileen's leftist hand and the other's right, sending both Inkwhips shooting backwards. The other reason was to distract them with blobs of almost harmless ink.

She rotated the Roller so the wheel would help her forward momentum, and she herself shot away from the wall, tripping them in the rush.

"Grab it!" She yelled, hoping Simon would understand.

He didn't need the warning; Simon was already hurdling to the Inkwhips' landing place. He caught it midair—a risky action, for it was still active—and a quick glance told him that this specific model did accommodate a color change. Simon pressed the button again, turning it off, and threw it as hard as he could to the ground. He guided his heel so it could land on top of the lifeless cylinder as he fell back down to earth. The Inkwhip died with a puff of air and a soft crack.

The third, who put away his Blaster by attaching it to his belt, grabbed the other one before it rolled away. He was caught by a full force, motor enhanced Roller to his side. The impact didn't launch him—he was a large person—but the suit broke before he could react, then the driving force in his side splatted him. His equipment went everywhere. The Blaster went downwards, immediately sinking it, but the one remaining Inkwhip soared once again right into the hands of The Brush user.

Eileen growled and hopped sideways, unleashing a barrage of ink during her flight.

Simon and Callie were now side by side, ready for the rest of the battle.

—

Pearl rapped the stone blocking the entrance with her knuckles. "No good," she said. "It's too heavy." She jumped back down the ladder, and the rest of the division leaders, along with that one Octoling named Barry and the other old one, moved away so as to not get hit.

"Quiet," said one leader from the fourth floor. "Hear that?"

Sure enough, the faint sounds of guns being fired and hasty footsteps made their way down the tall chamber, though muffled by distance and the rock.

"They're up there!" Rose exclaimed. "Can't we-"

"Not from below," Marie said. "The ladder's a problem too." She kept a calm demeanor, but her voice wavered upon the last syllable.

"We can do nothing but wait," Barry said. "Also, there's some news. Are your divisions ready for battle?"

Half of the leaders resounded with a combined "Yes, sir!" Marie was one of them.

"Kinda," Pearl said. "They can Skydive and do some medium stuff, but other that that deal..."

Rose interrupted her. "About half are good to go. Ten to eleven of them are great. Twenty need more practice and the rest can fight, but not perfectly."

"That's fine," Barry said, still acting as the voice of Octavio. He took a breath and let his shoulders sag in preparation for the next statement. "A spy has discovered the next city to be attacked."

—

Simon and Callie barely dodged the tip of the glowing Inkwhip. They were nearly at the limits of their mobility. Something was unnatural and uncanny about these two. Their speed, their strength- it was too fast for any normal person to be. Were all Octolings like this?

What the two lacked in speed, they made up for in cunning. The Hero Roller Mk II opened up countless new possibilities and strategy plans.

Simon Shot another volley of ink at the Octoling—either Rocky or Jack, he didn't know— but all of them were blocked by the birth of his Brush. He lunged toward Simon, ready to drive the Brush into him. Simon jumped to the left and fired many times more.

Somehow, his dodge was anticipated. Before he knew it, he was pinned to the ground. Using all of his strength to turn his head, he saw Callie in a similar situation.

Grimly, he looked his opponent straight in the eye. The touch of cold metal surrounded his neck, and he realized what made them so hard to beat. It wasn't a robotic arm, like the one on Akash. It was a gauntlet. A cold, metal gauntlet. His struggles were useless as he tried to force it off of himself. Looking back at him, he saw that the grin he wore before the battle was gone. Instead was an expression of mixed surprise and... sorrow?

The Inkwhip, which he held in place of his Brush for the time being, he deactivated. He held the lethal shape above Simon's torso and prepared to reactivate it.

There was no need to compare his captor to Eileen, for the moment he considered doing so, a mocking laugh came from his right. "On three, okay?"

Only three? Not more to mock them further?

"Three!"

Simon hoped for a miracle.

"Two!"

Wait! Sheldon! Before he left, he was putting the final touches on-

"One!"

Every passing millisecond lowered his chance for survival. He craned his neck right and glanced into Callie's eyes before their gaze was disrupted by a whoosh and a bang.

When Simon opened his eyes again, Eileen and the other one were gone. He tore the gauntlet off of his neck and dove for the Inkwhip, leaving the Brush to sink. The other gauntlet was caught accidentally by the tip of his foot as he dove.

Marina lowered the Rainmaker, relieved it worked and showed no signs of a temperature rise. "It worked!" She exclaimed.

"Was that you?" Callie asked, gathering Eileen's gauntlets.

As Simon repositioned the gauntlets so he actually held them and crushed the other Inkwhip, he heard Marina say, "Sheldon finished it. We can use it for however long you want now."

Callie breathed a super audible sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"M-May I see those?" Marina continued, eyeing the steel fists intently. She clutched only one of them and said, "Drat. They're broken."

"Can't you fix them?"

"I could, but from the looks of it, the balancers are busted, and this specific type is only produced back underground." She dropped them on the ground. Come on, let's get the rock.

Simon eyed the rock. It looked carved perfectly to fit the hole. "Think three of us is enough?"

—

Sky snuck out of the large room that held the hundred Dualie classes, abandoning her platoon.

She ran up the stairs. Her division leaders were regularly called to meetings, but the urgency from the intercom told her this was different.

The top floor, the one with the ladder, was empty, save a foot that exited through the hatch.

She followed warily, trying to make as little noise as possible. A circle of that beautiful shade of blue tempted her, but she steeled herself to not climb the remaining rungs.

"Sharktown. That's the next city. Sharktown." The announcement was followed by a gasp. "Are we ready?" Barry continued.

The conversation seemed to carry further away, so she peeked over the hatch. Sure enough, nobody was looking.

She slowly pushed herself up, drawing the notice of nobody. She glanced behind her and saw all of the division leaders and two extra she had never seen before. One was holding a Roller that's obscured her face. The other- Wait, was that him?

No matter. She skirted the plaza and found a way around so she could hear the conversation.

She came to a stop and realized. The tower aboveboard her would make for a great vantage point. It was her excuse to look up, but whatever. Sky climbed the steps as soundlessly as possible and came to the top of Inkopolis tower.

Octo Valley could almost be seen from here.

A blur of motion to side caught her eye.

Crawling out of the ground was a giant metallic beast. The drill it had on it's bottom split, suddenly transforming it into an eight legged thing that could easily swipe its appendage and demolish a skyscraper.

In all manners except color and size, it resembled a spider.

And, if it could burrow underground, the camp wasn't safe from its potential.

As Sky looked in horror, the image unlocked one word in her vast memory, and that one word, she yelled to inform the group below her feet.

"Widow!"


	56. Stormy Chasing

**So.**

This chapter is late. I know, but last week, I looked at it and decided it needed tons more work, so I took more than half of it and completely revamped it.

In other news, I just hit a Thanksgiving break, so I'll probably have another one of these up soonish.

Also my tablet is being weird and it can't highlight things correctly so from now on the author's notes will only have the first and last words **bolded.**

—

"...And the prisoners who do not serve in Akash's army are located here," Barry said as he placed his finger on a red dot on the map. "That's correct, sir?"

Octavio nodded.

"Which means the jellies and the rest of them. We don't know what they're doing with them. Pearl, Ms. Ida, you remember this part of the plan? Only you two are heading there. Amy more would easily set off alarms. It's on the surface, but it's concealed with really dense forestry, so you'll have to find a way through. You can use your private helicopters for that like you said. You want a few soldiers to guard them while you're down there?"

This was it, Rose thought. They had to retaliate now. Akash was scheduled to attack in two days at Sharktown, but the exact time was unknown.

They were taking a huge risk to assume that the attack would be similar to the one on Inkopolis, to assume that the Salmonid coolers would be used again, and not any Dualies.

Pearl and Marina were slated to free the rest of Inkopolis's citizens at the same time. Octavio knew through his espionage and said through the voice of Barry that it had to be simultaneous. If only one happened, either hostages would be taken or the attack would be moved somewhere else.

"Now, we can begin to mobilize the troops to the bullet train and get there as quickly as possible."

A sound of drilling and heavy footfalls entered the Plaza from the forest's direction.

"Widow!"

Rose's head shot up. The voice, she'd heard it countless times before.

But it had never been this urgent.

She broke free from the circle, unceremoniously shoving a few to the side, and swung around the tower to reach the metallic stairwell. Once she started up the stairs, she heard the clanks of someone else following behind her, but who, she did not know.

Rose nearly fell off the balcony with the speed she was moving at but managed to stop herself and catch a glimpse of another steel beast.

This one was of a spider, and from what she heard from Sky, this one was called the Widow.

She found Barry and Octavio next to her. Octavio whispered a curse in Ocarian.

"It burrows," said Sky. As the first one up there, she knew the most about it. All of the other three came to the same realization.

The camp was not safe.

"Distract it! Approach from the side! Barry exclaimed. A good plan. Coming from the side would seem to the pilot—if there was one—that they were defending that side. It would also prevent mulch more unnecessary destruction, as the city's outskirts were free of the tallest skyscrapers.

Some of the suburbs, however, were doomed.

If they were trying to get it away from the train station, the west would give the longest path.

She glanced at Sky, who gave her a slight nod.

Marie was already going after the Widow and weaving through the alleys. Her cunning mind also told her that the West was the optimal direction to approach from.

Both Rose and Sky, Dualies in hand, flipped off of the balcony to follow Marie.

—

"Get down there and the soldiers out!" Barry bellowed during his descent. Octavio followed his fall. "Get your team to prep the train," he said to Marina. "Then get your copter and go. It's a long way from here. The rest of you, lead your divisions to the train station."

Whatever was up there needed no questions. The two without any divisions, namely, Simon and Callie, went to the bunker instead to gather Cap'n Cuttlefish, Sheldon, and the 20 strong tech team, along with whatever creations they may have wrought.

The rest jumped down to the training camp, for they were clearly on a time limit.

Octavio stood outside anxiously. The ladder wouldn't be needed if everyone could just super jump out to him.

Barry would do the same, but after an announcement over the intercom.

Each soldier would take their own weapon and ink tank.

This was a race to the train station.

—

Marie took aim from the open area of a house's roof. Just a few more seconds, and that thing would be in range.

The transparent shield on the spider's head—at least, that's what she hoped it was—seemed to be one-way. The cockpit was too obscure for anyone outside to see in.

The trigger was released, and a diagonal line of shiny green spun its way out of the barrel. The ink didn't stick, as it did with most any clear material.

Sure enough, the thing stopped with an irritating sound of metallic scraping and turned in her direction.

Then she noticed a problem. Unlike the rest of the so-called "hidden weapons," this one had no glowing orange spots to shoot, and weaving around its eight appendages was too risky. She had to run.

Or swim, either way worked.

Judging by her observations earlier, this thing was fast. Not as speedy as the Eagle, but definitely faster than the one Simon had to pilot in the Lab.

It would be difficult, but she somehow had to avoid it.

Just then, a reticle appeared by her feet. She saw Rose rocketing to the spot and an octopus behind her.

The spider was close, but she wasn't about to abandon her.

Rose landed with her feet on the roof, jumped back a long way, and immediately shot back up again, gracefully spinning and leaving a spiral of ink. Before she could land, the Octoling touched the ground. Except that ground she touched was on the beast and not next to Marie. Marie braced herself for the oncoming torrents of the Skydive Rose was about to perform.

—

Thunder roared in the distance. A storm, which wasn't even visible half an hour ago, was fast approaching. A helicopter, holding Off the Hook and three guards, whirred away in the direction opposite the storm.

Simon, instructed to overview the training camp's evacuation, chose the view from the tower. However, the Widow was what caught his attention.

Not even its bulk could withstand the sheer power of a Skydive. It didn't topple over; rather, it staggered backward quite a distance and got caught in its own tangle of legs.

He saw Marie and Rose dive off of the roof. There was another one, but he or she was on the Widow itself and not fleeing with them. Whoever it was, they were too far away to identify.

"Hey, is everyone out of the Bunker?" Barry yelled. It was nearly drowned out by the soldiers pouring out of the hatch.

"Y-yeah!" He yelled back. Morgan, Cap'n Cuttlefish, Sheldon, everyone was out and either going to or already in the bullet train. Simon longed to somehow help the three dealing with the Widow. At least Callie was organizing the escape route to keep her busy. All he was doing was watching.

A gust of wind passed around him. The quick bluster was carrying the storm to Inkopolis. To pass the time, which was his only good option, he recounted everything up until now.

Sheldon, he and the weaponry team somehow pumped out enough Hero weapons for everyone. That meant multiple hundreds. Some even had several minor tweaks to suit the combat style of the many who needed it. They also found an easier way to develop Hero Suits and provided one for everyone, including Barry and Octavio.

Training was simple. Not much of note happened other than Marie nearly cutting one of the Charger recruits and sending him to the Slosher floor.

The tech team's ingenuity was scary. When working with the weaponry team, they developed a stationary cannon the size of two Inklings which could shoot twice as far and fast as the completed Rainmaker prototype.

And there were five of them.

The Widow managed to untangle its legs and start towards the fleeing division leaders.

But what was that one figure standing on it doing?

—

Sky nearly toppled off of the Widow's abdomen when it started to move ahead once more, but kept her balance. As far as she knew, the pilot had no knowledge of her presence on the hull.

Nothing she could use against the beast was on its cepholothorax, so she moved on to the abdomen. This was the larger part of the hull, so there must've been something there.

It stepped over a particularly large house, and she almost fell again. The wind helped her back up. Sky decided to crawl the rest of the way.

On the highest point of the rounded abdomen was a metal tile which stood out among the smooth, polished surface of the rest of the hull. It was screwed in tightly, so there was no prying it off, especially with bare hands.

Instead, she hoped the tile was thin and that it led to the electronics or whatever engineering was inside, for she stood up and stomped her heel into the tile.

Hopefully the high heels she was wearing would help with breaching the steel.

A dent formed in the center after a few tries. It deepened with a few more. It _was_ a thin sheet!

After one more hard drive of her foot, a tiny hole formed in the dent. Alarms blared from inside the abdomen.

Sky was glad she got used to wearing heels like this.

After she fit the tip of the heel into the hole, she heaved her leg so the hole would embiggen. She twisted her foot every now and then to simplify the process.

Once she was satisfied with the progress, she removed her heel from the metal tile. She then pried the hole even wider by tilting her foot in several directions.

The pilot finally noticed the alarms. The Widow stopped and the abdomen lowered to the ground. It flung back up, launching Sky ahead. Her plan, which was to rip out a few wires or the like, was ruined.

Without any panic, she let her feet point to the roof she was hurtling toward.

Her shoes left an imprint on it. Without stopping, she pushed against the roof and allowed the forward momentum to give her a head start ahead of its lethal legs.

Lightning flashed in the distance.

—

"...thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Next car!" Callie pointed to her left, where a vacant passenger car laid. The line forming into the full one shifted to the opening to the next.

Another division leader approached her. "I'll take it from here. They need help at the camp."

Giving a short nod as an affirmation, she super jumped and soared through the open air. Landing next to Barry, she noticed that the last of the soldiers were leaving through an alleyway. "What next?" She asked, raising her head.

"Check for any more down there."

Immediately, she jumped down. Barry's office was empty.

The stairwells were vacant.

The nine floors for each weapon class were unoccupied.

On the bottom floor, the extensive bunking area, there were two left.

"I can't... I can't," one said. She was curled up on the floor.

"Did you hear them? We have to go!"

"Hey!" Callie yelled. "It's not safe down here, come on!"

"I can't fight, though," said the one on the floor.

"You don't have to, just get out of here!" Callie tugged on her Hero Suit, forcing her to stand. "Take her," she said to the other. He promptly picked her, who was now a squid, up.

"Come on, this way!"

—

Rose panted as she kicked down yet another door.

She and Marie agreed to split and sometimes venture into the houses. Making a perfect beeline to the train station would be impossible because the Widow would catch up.

It also seemed to have some sort of heat-seeking technology since Marie was almost skewered when she hid behind a couch for far too long.

As she flipped over a fence and nearly broke a child's playset, she caught a glimpse of the train station's logo between the walls and fauna.

Sky, as she saw, was not on the Widow anymore, for she saw her strategically leaping across rooftops earlier.

Her goal wasn't far, and the Widow was far behind enough for her to reach it before the Widow caught her.

She leaped yet again and broke an unusually high window, luckily avoiding any cuts. Then she had to turn down a hallway and break another one.

As she landed on the ground and passed a short distance, she felt the wind behind her as she put one foot in front of the other in a steady rhythm.

Rose scaled the wire fence separating the train tracks from the suburbs and found herself at the caboose. A raindrop hit her sleeve, and she raised her hood to protect herself from the water.

Sky was close behind. She didn't have to climb the fence and instead cleared the whole thing from a rooftop.

"What are you doing?" Sky said. "Get in!"

Rose held up a finger to signal her to wait, and, as if on cue, a reticle appeared around her feet. Marie landed in it.

The bullet train began to move,

The rain was becoming horrifyingly strong, and the three barely managed to catch the open door where Callie was with Simon, Morgan, Cap'n Cuttlefish, Sheldon, and five cannons on wheels using most of the space.

Rose allowed herself to release the tension and sit in one of the available seats.

The storm overhead roared, and the sound of rain was overpowering. Cap'n Cuttlefish said something, but Rose was too exhausted to reply or even decipher what he said.

 _Now_ Inkopolis was empty.

The back window showed the Widow as it picked up speed, for there were no more empty homes to slow it down. The train hadn't reached top speed yet. The Widow raised its leg to impale the back of the bullet train.

Before it could bring it down, a barely audible explosion came from its hull, stopping it, and the beast released smoke from various places.

The lifeless corpse of the robotic beast came crashing down, covering the rails with its size, and let out a final puff of smoke from its abdomen.

Sky smiled and glanced at her feet.

And as if that wasn't enough, a flash of blue light came from a cloud above and struck it, momentarily bathing it in a bluish flash.

And so the train moved on, abandoning Inkopolis to defend Skarktown.


	57. The Journey

The bullet train, even though it held hundreds, still had two empty cars in front of the caboose. The caboose was modeled differently from the rest of the passenger cars. Instead of the sole white and blue that decorated the rest of the interiors, there was some added green on the seats.

The rain had not stopped, but the showers still continued less intensely than before. The storm was traveling perpendicular to the tracks, but its size still held the train under its shadow.

"How long will the ride take?" Callie said, breaking the eerie silence that settled in the car.

Simon glanced at a digital clock near the ceiling. "We won't make it until tomorrow."

"Agent 4," said Cap'n Cuttlefish, still refusing to use her actual name. "Who is that? I don't believe we've met." He gestured towards the Octoling staring out the back window, separate from the rest of the group with the heavy cannons obscuring most of her.

Rose forced herself to sit up. "It's- uh..." she looked over at her through the convoluted weaponry, and the Octoling gave her a nonverbal nod. "Her name is Sky."

Simon looked puzzled.

"Have you met her, Simon?" Callie interjected.

"...No."

This "Sky" was too eager to hide her face, Marie thought. She was just fine in the race away from the Widow, but now that that was over, and everyone could see her clearly...

Wait. Why did anyone know that the Widow was called the Widow? Her. She was the source of the name. Or so it seemed.

How did she know that name?

The speaker system fired up, tearing her from her train of thought.

Barry's voice, one that had become very familiar, resonated in each car.

"Would everyone in the caboose please head to the locomotive?"

Everyone. That meant Morgan as well. What would she do?

Come to think of it, Morgan had no reaction to sharing a ride with the Squid Sisters. Sure, she'd seen them before, but only when they were masked.

"Ugh, what is it this time?" Callie groaned.

Cap'n Cuttlefish, without a word of protest, stood up using his cane to support himself. He hobbled to the front door of the caboose and prepared to face the wind from the small, exterior transition into the next car. Simon went next.

Sky, predictably, held the end of the line.

They passed the vacant void of the next two cars, then the first that actually held people had its door opened by Marie, who had taken the lead and donned her mask again.

They were met with applause. It began with a single person mostly hidden by the seats and poles clapping, then spread like an infection until the entire car was cheering wildly.

Marie never stopped her march to the next car, but as she passed the first person to begin the ovation, she saw the original Hero Brush in his hands.

Sid.

The sounds of applause must have been booming, for the next car they entered continued the notion. Then the next. Then the next.

This continued until they reached the locomotive, where Barry and Octavio stood against the wall while three of the tech team managed the over complicated motherboard of the train. A map of Skarktown hung from the empty spot on the wall with some noticeable red markings.

"Hey," Octavio whispered in order to prevent the train operators from hearing. "It's time."

"So we heard," said Marie. "Why are we up here?"

"We need you to raise the morale," Barry said definitively. "Not one of them seems eager."

Simon put a hand on the wall and leaned against it. "Well, considering what we're doing..."

"Just tell them what you know! Here." He handed the microphone to the Cap'n.

"You do realize none of them know we're NSS members, right?" Marie took the microphone. "There's not much we can say without revealing it." She internally cursed, realizing she did just that to Sky and Morgan.

To the surprise of everyone, Morgan spoke up. "I-I'll start. Here."

Marie started to bring the hand holding the microphone backwards, then hesitated. Why her of all people?

She remembered what this girl had been through, then handed it to her, the oddly short girl in high school with the clear eyes and the cyan hair.

Rose walked over, stood next to her, and held her arm, trying to comfort her. Morgan started at the microphone in her hand for a few moments, seemingly in awe. Rose nodded at her, then flipped a switch on the wall. The feedback immediately began. Morgan winced hearing the painful sound, then took a few steps backwards, bringing Rose with her.

"Hey, kid, want me to preface this?" Octavio said, but not in a whisper. "I'll give it back."

Nobody reacted to save the rest of the cars from the clamor of Octavio's voice reveal. He took the microphone from her outstretched arm and sighed.

"It's time. All of your training has come to this. Things look bad; I know, but we have the advantage of Skydive." He looked at Rose to confirm her name for it.

"Still, most of you don't know who we're against. His name is Akash Octrope." The name was one he said with hatred.

Rose mouthed "Sorry..." to Morgan, then leaned into the microphone, for one crucial detail was missing. "As the Dualies division already knows, he is the only enemy. He's using Inkopolis's life—the citizens—as puppets." Once again, Rose's personality shifted completely during public speaking.

"They've been brainwashed. None of them are acting like they usually do. We take down Octrope, they're free." She took a deep breath. She said all of that with one.

"Underground, he's a tyrant," Barry interrupted. "Not long ago, he took prisoners from Inkopolis for research." Finally, he gave the microphone to Morgan.

She took it with surprise, probably expecting to be completely forgotten. "N-near..." she stopped and breathed twice, slowly. Her eyes gained a glare of anger and determination. "Near the beginning of this year, I was taken as the first of those prisoners." She was trembling, not wanting to remember all of this, but she knew she must. "I don't know what they did to me, but, well, I'm still alive, so, uh,"

Marie got her attention by tapping on her sunglasses.

"...I know the end product, though. The sunglasses each of the soldiers are wearing are why they fight." Finished with her part, she held it out for someone to take, flustered and embarrassed.

Cap'n Cuttlefish took it and nearly dropped and broke it. "I know someone that was also taken prisoner. He's a fine young man," said he with his unmistakable voice. He wanted to say more, but couldn't without breaking the NSS's secret.

Simon leaned in. "That would be me." He paused, searching for the right words. "During the attack, everyone they could find was taken. They used Salmonid tech to launch a slew of soldiers from anywhere they put a cooler. Right now, we're heading to a city south of here called Skarktown. Their plan will hopefully be similar, but be ready for anything." He relayed it to Marie, who took it swiftly.

Pressing her sunglasses closer to her eyes, she searched for something to say, or even if she wanted to speak. Seconds passed, and the only sound was the rumble of the tracks.

After the grueling moment, she said, slowly, "After this, I have one request for you. Don't hate the Octarian race just because of this. Only one man is behind this."

Callie joined her. "These people were forced underground. Please, don't forget that they deserve the sky as much as we do."

Sky remained in the darkest corner, obscuring her face by looking down.

Marie, noticing that there was nothing else, said, "Well, now that that's out of the way,

"Remember, we fight for our families. We fight for good. We fight..."

Callie, Marie, Simon, and Rose gathered around the microphone. Rose started a countdown with her fingers. Three, two, one,

"For Inkopolis!"

—

 **This** one had a really good cutoff point so I'm keeping it short. And it was soonish, so here. I'll still probably have another one over the weekend.

Seriously, though, I love doing this. It's sounded like I've been stressing over a schedule over the past month or so, but not really. Don't worry about **me.**


	58. Tomorrow

**To** a guest: Sorry, that isn't happening. Given what I've been building up to, it wouldn't work from here on at any time in this specific universe. I have the rest of this story planned out and some of the next, so I can't go into **that.**

—

Bare plains and the occasional farmhouse rolled by in a blur of colors. As they entered a batch of trees, the entire view became dominated with hues of green.

If there was any major reaction to hearing the voice of Marie disconnected from her disguise or the ominous tones of Octavio, it was isolated from the group in the locomotive.

The three in charge of the train's movement appeared to be having too much fun with the whistle.

"Would you stop that?" Marie chastised.

Rose pointed to the roof of one of the tall buildings on the map with such force she almost poked right through it. "If we station a few of my troop up on each of these, we won't have to super jump."

Strategizing was the most difficult part of this plan. Without knowing exactly where they would fight, they could only prepare for general scenarios before now.

"There should be a respawn pad at the station, just like every other one in existence," said Marie.

"Slow down a bit," Simon said. "We're just barging straight into a city. Don't you think the locals would be at least a bit cautious?"

Barry capped his red marker and picked up a blue one on the floor. As he wrote Rose's suggestion on the side, he replied, "Yeah, about that. Any ideas?"

Callie paused for a moment, remembering what Simon had told her of his hometown. "Whoever's talking, it can't be an Octoling." She tensed, grasping the implications of what she said.

"Why is that?" Octavio retorted, giving her a side-eye and crossing his arms.

"The locals there don't take kindly to things they aren't familar with," Simon interrupted. "And what they are familiar with is either crime or avoiding crime. I'll do the talking there."

The forest led straight into a mountain. As the trees proceeded up the incline, the bullet train entered a tunnel, blanketing everything in a silent darkness.

With the loudness of the train rumbling on the tracks and the near blindness, Sky slipped away through the back doorway to reach the next car.

Before entering, she waited at the exterior area between and pressed her ear against the door. They were still discussing tactics. There wasn't really any malevolent reason for her departure. She just felt useless for the time being.

If there was any place to prove her worth, if she hadn't done it already, it was on the battlefield.

That old man who preferred to stay silent was Octavio. His voice, however short the line was, was unmistakable.

The exceptionally long tunnel was still amplifying the already booming sound of the wheels.

She took the time to dash through as many cars as she could while still partially assisted by the lack of brightness.

Light, with all of its usual speed, passed through the windows, illuminating everything once more. However, it was still dim; they were in the "dense forest" Barry had described earlier. Unlike the small, insignificant woods near Inkopolis, the Pines of Respir was one the largest on the planet.

Sky saw nobody around her. Good. She reached one of the back cars.

Undoubtedly, somebody saw her. She, like most everyone else, emitted a faint glow only visible in very low lighting.

Where was she? Oh. Right. Octavio.

Like with the Widow, the name just came to her without her even knowing she knew it beforehand. He must've been a pretty major character in her old life.

No. No. Can't think about that now. There's a battle to be fought.

She allowed herself to relax as she strolled the last few cars' length and reached the back.

—

A gust of wind hit the helicopter as it reached its max height.

Pearl nearly lost her balance with the sudden deceleration. "Yo, Sheldon, you good up there?"

Sheldon sat in the cockpit, taking a quick glance behind to make sure the storm was far away. "I have piloted flying vehicles for years! This is nothing new for me! Hold on tight, we're making a short descent!"

Marina could easily pilot it on her own, but she needed to conserve her energy for the raid.

In addition to Pearl and Marina, three guards boarded the vehicle as well. Their purpose was to watch the helicopter and ensure its safety while Off the Hook freed the other citizens.

The train's impressive speed allowed it to pass them. Marina breathed a sigh of relief knowing the Widow—or whatever it was called—didn't stop it, quite literally, in its tracks.

A few seconds later, the front of the train entered a forest. A few more saw the entire thing enveloped in leaves. This specific forest was not the one outside of Inkopolis, for it was much more dense and the trunks were much closer together.

"Is that it?" Pearl asked, squinting in the sunlight as she peeked out of the window.

Marina joined her at the thick glass pane. "Yes, that's the forest, but the construction we're looking for is on the other side of it, past this mountain. It's still really far."

A silence settled as they both took a seat. The three guards preferred to say nothing, probably because of the intimidation that came with sharing a seat with the two current major pop stars.

"Pearlie, have I toned you how awkward you look in a Hero Suit?" Marina stifled a laugh.

"I could say the same for you." Pearl said, stoically putting her knee up.

A faint screech could be heard over the whirring of the blades. Out the right window, a distant speck flying parallel swooped up and hid itself above the clouds.

Marina shot up. "Sheldon, did you hear that?"

"That was the Eagle," he said, visibly stressed from the cockpit. "Where's it going?"

Pearl stood. "South. That's where the train is going!"

"We're safe, then. If they could tame it before, they can do it again!" He pushed a few switches upward.

Sparse clouds dotted the blueness of the sky. Small glimpses of the bullet train came into view between trees.

Three vehicles pressed on. Two in the sky, one on the ground.

And all with the same purpose.

Resist.

—

 **Oh** lord, this is a random-feeling chapter. But it was necessary. Without it, the transition would be nothing.

See you next week with the first chapter of the climax.

Or wait, maybe not. I have exams soon so I guess expect whatever. I have things to study **for.**


	59. Waves of Green

**I'm** back for like the fifth time! Exams are over now, so I'm on break. I have the elusive construct of time on my side **finally**!

—

Rose awoke with a start. People were shouting. Not in pain, but in warning.

What happened? The train stopped, Simon said a few things, then she gathered four other Dualie recruits.

She forced herself to stand. Her arms were stiff, and she realized she had been using them as a pillow. She waved them around until she could feel them then looked over the edge of the building she was standing on. It was close to the center of the city, so everyone could see when to drop.

Several tiny dots hovering over the ocean were quickly approaching. Drones.

She fought her desire to immediately chase after them. If their plan was to work, they had to wait.

Every major person, namely the four Agents, Octavio, Barry, and Cap'n Cuttlefish, had a headset. Every one of them could communicate with each other with a button press. Rose would have suggested Sky for her sheer skill, or Sid for his huge contributions, but she remained silent.

Cap'n Cuttlefish was too old to fight, so he just remained in the train, acting as a hub of sorts. Morgan was with him, but she probably wouldn't do anything.

Wait. There was something else coming with the drones. It was farther away, but it was still unmistakable.

The missing concrete from Inkopolis Plaza was now equipped with thrusters. And on the floating platform was a tall figure with a purple veil.

She couldn't worry about that now. The drones were close. Rose looked around at the surrounding area to see one last time if there was anything to use as an advantage.

Sharktown was shaped like a U— if it wasn't for the rounded inlet protruding into the land, it would be completely round. A sturdy drawbridge connected each segments, but its support beams didn't extend upwards very high.

Surprisingly, the streets were deserted. Simon instructed the people to hide inside and barricade every door and window. It worked, somehow.

The night was reaching its end as the morning star crept up on the horizon.

She reached up to her head and hit the button on her right ear.

"Are we all ready?"

An assortment of various sounds responded, but all were in confirmation.

From the outside of the headset, the four others that joined her and some with different weapon classes also responded in kind. Sky was among them.

By now, the drones were hovering overhead, far out of reach and ready to drop their cargo.

Like a egg falling from a nest, the white blur of the cooler dropped and its lid cracked open.

Dozens of interspersed Octolings and Inklings poured from the inside. Each had a uniform of black clothing and glowing sunglasses.

However a group of Salmonids managed to invent something like that, Rose had no idea.

She couldn't drop yet. It was too early. She waited for half a minute, checking behind her to ensure that each of the other four with her was preparing to Skydive in a different location.

5 more seconds.

1 more. By now, the streets were swarmed with a confusing mass of bodies. Many were pounding on the walls and doors of the closest buildings. The enemy soldiers were leaving the cooler at a slower rate now.

Rose hit her headset's button again and yelled as loudly as she could possibly yell.

"Now!"

Immediately after, she pushed off of the roof, flying nearly to the center of the street, and at the height of her jump, she stopped, hovered in the air for a moment, then fell at a blinding speed.

—

Simon watched on in awe from his own perch at the several eruptions of ink that cloaked his hometown in a new color. He would never get used to the amazing power of Skydive.

The first of these blasts, he assumed, was Rose. The torrent lasted for five seconds, much longer than a regular Splashdown.

Following her was a ripple of others that nearly cloacked the entire place in green, ending below his feet.

Gathering his resolve, he fiercely thrust his finger toward the other side of the bay.

"Fire!"

With the two cannoneers that he commanded joining the battle, he jumped off of the building with many of the other recruits, all the while furiously pressing the trigger on his weapon.

He aimed with several angles, determined to hit every enemy he could see. After his landing, he unleashed a barrage of shots, all hitting something. With practically anywhere yielding a hit, it was easy.

Simon and the several allies around him sent waves to the enemies. Wherever the source was, they had to push toward it and isolate it.

He fought for several minutes in the shadows. With the sun still low and the height of the surrounding structures, darkness blanketed his battlefield.

After a tedious amount of time passed and his distance from his beginning increasing, he found himself in front of one of the reinforced coolers. The odd object had no lid.

"Cover me!" He said. Nearby allies formed a ring around him.

As he looked inside, he saw what appeared to be a liquid. It could be that, or it could be a thin film of some material. Was this how the tiny cube could hold so much? Instant transportation was already possible—he had to do it a few times in Octo Valley, and the Rainmaker could do it easily —but he had never seen it done with such a small device.

The second-long examination ended with him being forced away by an enemy emerging from it. A few shots spelled his defeat. To try and stop the reinforcements, he dropped a bomb inside and saw it disappear to whereever the film led. To his delight, nobody else suddenly emerged.

Before reentering the fray of the battlefield, he activated his headset.

—

Rose just barely dodged another flick of an enemy Roller. It's wielder, before they could turn around for another swing, was splatted by Marie, the one chosen to brandish the Rainmaker.

"Thanks for that," she said.

Without hearing a response, she pushed forward, trapping a group of enemies between her and the end of an alleyway. She bent her knees to leap forward, but beforehand she could, Sky came from above and landed in front of them. Did... did she jump?

With the reflexes of a program, Sky evaded almost every incoming shot. It looked less like a fight one more like a dance routine she had been practicing for weeks. The scene was mesmerizing.

Rose shook off the daze and spun around to guard her backside. Luckily, there were several allies forming a barrier between her and the outside of the alley. Once Rose saw this, she again assumed a stance for battle. To her immense surprise, Sky was standing alone. Rose was, for once, speechless.

"Thanks for giving me that opportunity," Sky said, briskly walking by. "Think we could do that again?"

Again?

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted.

"Bombs! Throw bombs in them!" said the voice of Simon.

"Bombs in what?" Callie.

"The coolers!" He was nearly yelling.

Rose, knowing this was vital information, began to relay it to any ally that could hear, but she was drowned out with another noise.

The signature caw of the Eagle engulfed everything.

—

 **This** is the most complex chapter I've ever written. So many things are happening at once. Please forgive me if the quantity was less than stellar.

On another note, this is almost over. Can you guys believe the timing? I just start the climax after a long break in the flow? Hard to believe it's been 10 months.

Aaand also shortish chapter but the transition was too good to ignore. I have time, as you know, so I'll have the next one up sometime **soon.**


	60. The Last Caw

**Something** , something, intro, **go**!

—

Pearl pushed aside a low-hanging branch, holding it so Marina could pass through.

"Hold on. Stop here. Need to replace the batteries." In Marina's hands was a device to detect underground caves.

Pearl leaned against a tree and flickered the flashlight she was holding. "How much longer? We've been at it for hours." She tossed the flashlight up and caught it with her other hand.

Marina pushed a few batteries in the remote-like machine. "Well, before it died, we looked pretty close. Maybe a bit longer."

"Hold up, what's that?" Pearl said completely ignoring what Marina just said. She looked at a swarm of glowflies a few meters away. "Those aren't usually here, right? Those are the only ones I've seen."

Marina stopped and turned the device off. "Quiet. Let's see. Watch your step and don't turn on the light."

With only the natural faint glow to go by, Pearl almost tripped over a few large roots.

"Careful."

Once Marina was close to the glowflies, they dispersed and flew off, each in its own direction.

In the swarm's place was a wooden shed that looked like it was abandoned for years. Moss was making its way up its vertical planks, and some of the wood was rotting. It was only slightly taller than Marina and could feasibly hold four people.

For a little bit, she stood still. Pearl followed. They heard no noises other than the rustling of leaves and the chirps of crickets. Turning on the cave detector again, Marina studied the readings.

"Right below us," she whispered. "A small passage."

"Is this it then?"

No telltale signs of Octarian activity were visible at present. "Maybe."

As Pearl took hold of the handle and pulled, the door didn't creak or give any resistance. She smiled smugly and swung it open the rest of the way.

The inside of the shed was much more well kept than the outside. A spotless, futuristic chamber greeted them, then an automatic light came on from its ceiling.

Pearl and Marina looked at each other and nodded.

They stepped into the chamber, and once it detected the weight, it began to slowly drop like a regular elevator. A transparent sliding door covered the entrance.

A tense moment passed, then it stopped. The light turned off. Still, they remained silent.

About a minute passed, and Pearl was about say something. She was interrupted by the light, which turned on again. However, instead of emitting white light, it was red. Almost immediately after, an alarm blared.

Wasting no time, Pearl kicked the sliding glass door, shattering it. She ran forward and came to a fork just outside the elevator.

"Left!" Marina shouted over the noise. She was visualizing a layout of the area based on the cavers she detected earlier.

The facility was designed similarly to the elevator: whitish and fururistic-looking. It also had traits exactly like the patterns Akash had used. There were a lot of hallways and an interior design choice. Just before the next corner, more hypnotized soldiers came from it.

Knowing they were time constricted, Pearl cut a line through by focusing her fire from her Dualies and dropped a bomb inside the line. Once the soldiers were gone, she motioned for Marina to follow, but there were more enemies approaching.

Marina sent the tip of her backup Brella after them and turned around to join Pearl.

"Where are we going?" Pearl shouted. "Can't you hack into anything?"

Once Marina caught up, she grabbed Pearl and pulled her into a side room. Pearl wasted no time in bolting the door shut.

They caught their breath and waited for the enemy soldiers to run by, then Marina said, "No. Not unless there's a computer connected to the system anywhere near. Everything's wired."

"Hey, look at this." Pearl brushed a bit of dust off of a dimly lit map on the wall. "We can plan our route here."

"Right." Marina checked the door to ensure nobody was there, then found the light switch.

Somehow, through sheer luck, they found the guide room to the entire facility. The map was the only thing of note in the whole room.

"Elevators are too dangerous," Marina said. "We'll have to take stairwells.

"Thanks, what else is new?" Pearl joked.

Marina allowed a little smile. "Left, left, right, through there, and here's where we need to go." The center of the map was labeled "Holding Area"

"Pfft, 'Holding Area'," Pearl fake laughed bitterly. "I think the word they're looking for is 'Prison'. How are we going to go from there?" She was right. Even though non-Inklings or Octolings were about three percent of Inkopolis's total population, herding that many people away from a mass of angry soldiers would be difficult.

"Well, we planned to use the train, but I think we're going too fast. The attack's still going, and Cap hasn't notified us of any sign of stopping."

"Would it be fine if they went to us now? I don't think we'd hold out until they're done. How far are they?"

"If the train was pushed to its limits, then about two hours." She paused. "Yeah, you're right." Marina sighed and pulled out her communicator.

—

Heads turned with the deafening noise.

Marie released her fire with the Rainmaker and found the source of the sound. She knew what it was already, but she still felt a hint of disbelief.

The Eagle? Here? Now?

Simon beat her to the headset.

"Was that-"

"The Eagle. Yes," she said.

The beat cawed again and launched its Stingray, cutting down their ranks near Marie dangerously. It seemed to focus on her as if the pilot knew she's drivin it before.

"Somebody, get it's attention somehow," she continued.

"I'm on it," said Callie.

—

Callie knew exactly what Marie was planning.

While the cannons had impressive firing distance, it's vertical capabilities were lacking.

So the Rainmaker was the only thing that could reach it.

And Marie's position on the building was perfect for hitting one of the thrusters.

Callie flipped the switch on her Roller, mowing through the soldiers that nearly cornered her and swinging it as if it was a battle axe, then she super jumped to the edge of the city, where two cannons were situated.

"Fire there!" She said to the cannoneers, pointing to the bridge connecting each side of Sharktown. "Get everyone off of the bridge!" She said into the headset. If the plan was being followed, Octavio would be the one over there.

The cannoneers followed without question.

Three other cannons were on the other side, each on its own building.

She did the same for each of those so every cannon was aiming at the bridge.

Several green squids and octopi jumped away from the bridge. Straining her eyesight, she saw that nobody was left other than hypnotized soldiers.

The Eagle's driver, now realizing the pressure being placed on its forces near the bridge, flew directly above it and fired both the Stingray and the bombs, hoping to counteract it. It was useless, for after a minute of volleys from five cannons, the bridge was completely empty.

"Now, shoot it now!" She said.

—

Marie didn't have to be told twice.

After charging up one more shot, she released the trigger and stared as it flew slowly to the Eagle.

 _You're_ _done_ _now_.

It hit a wing. Now the bird was hanging from its other wing only.

Another release of the trigger.

The Eagle cawed again, struggling to keep itself aloft with weakened thrusters.

Not willing to let it fly again, Marie super jumped to Callie on the other side of the city. With such a distance, and while carrying a weight like the Rainmaker, it was nearly impossible.

Yet she flew.

Callie looked on in awe. Since Marie was holding the Rainmaker, her glow was amplified. She was like a beacon, shining a light of victory.

The left thrusters exploded. The pilot escaped.

It came crashing down.

Marie, when directly above it, yelled, then threw the Rainmaker down. It looked like it was already falling at terminal velocity.

It hung above the groaning hull of the Eagle, then exploded, pushing the Eagle down onto the bridge and tearing its pieces apart.

The bridge itself also buckled near the middle and shattered like a sheet of glass under the weight. All of the debris fell into the bay.

Marie landed next to a speechless Callie.

"Give me a moment," Marie said, her voice quiet. She gestured to her Charger holstered on her back. "I'll fight once I've regained my strength."

Somewhere off in the distance, a cloaked Octoling grimaced.

—

 **Whoa** , serious drama is difficult to get across well! Nevertheless, it was fun! How did I do with the final defeat of the **Eagle**?


	61. A Twister of Swirling Color

**This** one took so long to write and you will see **why**.

—

Marie took aim from the top of her new position. She was laying low, attempting to pick off enemies from her high ground.

The backup Charger she had in case she lost the Rainmaker—which she did—had a serious modification which allowed much more range with quick charge speed.

"Hello, can everyone hear me?" It was Cap'n Cuttlefish.

Startled, she released her fire, but the stream still hit. She lowered her weapon and looked forward, surveying the landscape as she talked. "Yeah, what is it?"

"I've just been contacted. They're asking that the train returns to the edge of the forest."

"What! Now!?" Rose yelled. "We're still all here! What if we have to get out?"

"Would you pipe down a bit, Four?" Marie was still used to using the number to address her in the open. "I can hear you loud and clear without the volume."

"This was the only part of the plan that was a bit finicky," said Barry from the main square of the city. "I don't see another way. Sir?"

"Fine," said Octavio in his deep, intimidating voice. He said no more.

Marie shielded her eyes from sudden brightness. The sun had risen above the nearest building, and the sky was losing its last shades of red.

"Is the tech team still there?" Barry asked. "They'll need to push the train's engines or whatever. Send a few more defenders as well."

"They are here," said the Cap'n, "but so is the Rainmaker. It's reappearance was bound to here."

"I'll pick it up," said Callie, "I'm close. I'll send a few on the train too."

—

Callie drilled through five more with the help of the Hero Roller Mk II. Soldiers were becoming more sparse, but the ratio was still two to one.

She could see the train station a few blocks away, a short distance in Sharktown.

When passing by another cooler, she casually dropped a bomb inside, disabling another source.

She dodged left when someone almost bashed her in the head with some unknown weapon, choosing not to fight when the train needed to move.

As she closed the distance between her and her destination, her path became oddly devoid of anyone in her way.

She was about to swing open the door to the station when she heard something from above.

Callie bent backwards to avoid the incoming Inkwhip's stream. Eileen was next to her. She jumped, dodging it again, then forced the butt of her Roller down, knocking Eileen to the ground.

Callie turned the switch on to once again spin her way to victory, but her weapon was wrenched out of her hands by one of her brothers.

Cursing with the fact that she was defenceless, Callie opened the blue door and escaped inside the station. She locked the door.

The Rainmaker was close. She waved frantically as she approached the second car, hoping someone would see and open it.

The sliding door to the bullet train slowly moved, giving her just barely enough room to squeeze in.

Catching her breath, more from relief than exhaustion, she saw Morgan gripping the door handle. Cap'n Cuttlefish must have still been in the caboose.

"Thanks," she said. The Rainmaker, located a few feet away from her, still gave off its signature glow and had no signs of being thrown directly downwards. If she had to guess, it probably dented the Eagle more than it had been scratched.

A weight landed on top of the car. Eileen must have used the holes in the station's roof to pursue her.

"Get down!" Callie said, knowing perfectly well that the Inkwhip could reach from where it was.

She crawled to the Rainmaker, grabbing it by its back end, and calmly proceeded to the exit again.

Callie rolled out, ready for a battle, but then three more fell through another hole in the ceiling. Rose, Sid, and Sky, with a major advantage, engaged the one threat in the room.

For some reason, Rose had Callie's Roller. She must have gotten it back. She flicked it from a distance while allowing Sid to run up and finish her off. Eileen took a battle stance, but once she looked at her enemies, her surprise spelled her defeat.

Sky didn't fire a single shot and was instead planning an approach before Sid rushed in recklessly. Nevertheless, she smiled lightly and high-fived Rose. Callie grinned warmly at the sight. They were really warming up to each other.

Rose looked down at her. "Want this back?" she yelled from the top.

"Y- yeah, here," Callie said. But something was off, she just realized Eileen had never shown a hint of surprise in battle. "I'm better with that anyway." That, and how a Roller was just too big to carry while holding the Rainmaker.

She jumped down, and Callie and Rose traded weapons.

"Alright," Rose said, "Let's head back."

—

To Simon's relief, what was left of the crowd finally dwindled after a couple more short hours. Did they not prepare a close enough respawn point, or did the bombs really affect that much?

To test the question, he found one more active cooler, dropped a bomb inside, and watched the effect. Yet again, his nearby allies defended him, though it was a lot easier now that there was significantly less to defend against.

The bomb went off inside, then the film of whatever material it was changed. It stopped moving with constant ripples from the center and became entirely flat and green, the color of the bomb he threw in.

Cautiously, he tried to touch it, push his hand through, but to his confusion, the film was completely solid. Somehow, a quick, heavy bombardment of ink manipulated the surface tension of the substance or disabled it completely, not just splatting everyone on the other side of the film like he originally thought.

Once he looked back up, his headset emitted a sound to signal that someone was about to say something. "It's all clear here," Marie said. "How about everywhere else?"

"Just clearing the last few here," Rose resounded. "Aaaand done."

Everything went silent around Simon. He saw the circle gathered around him relax, and, looking around, he saw no more enemies.

Off in the west, several enemy soldiers were in the sky, jumping away in retreat.

"Was that all of them?" said Simon, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "I mean, other than-"

"One more," Rose said grimly. "Akash himself. There!"

Even as she said it, he, from a distance, witnessed the explosion of the Rainmaker, meaning Rose abandoned it in favor of her mobility. He saw her rise into the air and fall again, encapsulating the escaping rounded platform in the swirl of the Skydive.

Except the rounded platform was the same arena where Octavio was fought for the second time. The very same patch of concrete missing from Inkopolis Plaza. Apparently they rigged it so it's floatation could be controlled.

"To me!" He heard from his headset. Near the arena, he saw Callie leap from a building to the edge of the platform, exploiting the floatation's moment of disability.

Throwing hesitation to the wind, he immediately followed her, super jumping to her exact spot. He soared, paying close attention to his destination to avoid any incoming attacks.

Shortly after his arrival, Marie landed in a kneel, Charger cocked and eyes forward. A sound signaling a full charge rung soon after.

Rose landed on both feet with both Dualies pointed forward.

Akash was again wearing his purple cloak, but he was facing sideways, towards the sun which remained low enough to give the oceans a glimmering sheen and high enough to allow a striking blue sky.

The platform moved to one side, preventing any more from landing properly, then rose to a height higher than anyone could jump.

At this height, wind blew with a whisper of tension. Wispy clouds floated by behind him.

In other words, they were alone with a single chance to finish the battle.

Akash whipped his right arm — the mechanical one — backwards, revealing an active Inkwhip. "I've already said what I had to, yet you're still here," he said, slowly pronouncing every syllable.

He turned to face them, then he once again cast off his cloak, revealing a bored expression on his chiseled face and the same general's uniform.

Simon immediately started racking his mind for any advantages they had, sure the others were doing the same. First of all, Rose's Skydive ensured the entire arena was covered in green, their color. Also, the sun was the only light around, and he couldn't extinguish that to exploit darkness.

Before he had a chance to react, he was already rushing at him with a terrifying speed, Inkwhip deactivated and holding a pair of the all-too-familiar Hypno-Shades. Retaliation crossed his mind when the pair was already in front of him.

The next moment was a blur. Callie forced the shades out of his hand and to the ground with the spinning Roller, Rose stomped on them despite the blobs of ink going everywhere, then Marie shot him point-blank in the face.

Somehow, the fire from the charger only knocked him back. Without thinking, Simon covered the short distance between them and kicked him in the chest, forcing him to the ground. His metal legs couldn't withstand the blow.

As the other three rushed forward, he dove on top of his robotic arm and tried to force the Inkwhip out of his hands, but to no avail. The metal woudn't budge.

Anticipating an attack from the weapon he just attempted to steal, he jumped directly up, aiming to land on his right arm. After the Inkwhip sailed under him, he aimed to drive his feet into the joint. A few screws came loose with his brutal landing.

Callie ran up to the arm, held her Roller behind her head, then brought it down, using the frame to disconnect his forearm. Then she swept it to the side, sliding the pieces to the ground below.

Since Akash had no arm, all four of them expected him to try and escape somehow. Instead, a whoosh from above came.

Simon and Callie backed up, for it sounded like it was above them. Rose and Marie stayed behind and warily looked up to see the weight that was dropping.

As he stood up and caught it with his other usable arm, the four had retreated near the edge. The object he caught looked like a backpack of sorts, something that he began wearing immediately. The drone that had carried it to him above whirred away.

From the back of their enemy, there was a machine's purr. Four more, much longer robotic arms emerged from the device he wore. They were each longer than an Inkwhip.

Akash sat down casually as the weapons his that newer arms held started to fire.

Simon was the only one to recognize them. From his probably illegal underground investigation of Grizzco, he discovered four illegally modified weapons only used rarely in Salmon Run.

A Blaster, a Charger, a Slosher, and a Brella. Grizzco weapons. His own personal ones.

From where they were at the edge of the arena, none of the weapons could reach them, but they were still firing. Each weapon was aiming at a separate individual, and the arms moved only when they did. Neither side seemed willing to approach the impasse.

With this setup, the Grizzco Charger would be the most problematic. Its instant fire coupled with the near-perfect aim of artificial intelligence wouldn't allow them to approach. Ink consumption didn't seem to affect the weapons either. If that wasn't taken out quickly, then-

He heard a pop followed by the clang of falling metal.

The Grizzco Charger was gone in a helpless heap of shiny grey on the ground. Marie had aimed for the arm, shot it, and it fell.

Of course. Nobody else had noticed! The glowing orange spots on the arms were still there. If they shot those, then they could win easily.

Before their hopes were up, Akash reached behind him, pressed a button on his backpack, then more metal plates telescoped out to cover the vulnerable places.

"I got it." Rose said. "Let him cover as much as he wants. I'll take it from there."

Marie smiled at her. "Smart. Are we ready?"

"Split!" Simon yelled, hoping Akash would hear.

Simon swam in a half-circle, placing himself opposite his original starting point. The Blaster was after him, so he had to get somewhat close to bait a volley of shots.

Akash was still sitting still, cross-legged, as if nothing was happening. Then he stood up, gathered the remains of the broken arm, and kicked them off the edge with one arm, still barely moving from the center of the arena.

Marie kept her distance and rarely moved in closer. The Grizzco Slosher was a very easy weapon to dodge due to its slow-moving bullets.

The last weapon, the Grizzco Brella, was a fast-firing Brella with no canopy. It alternated targeting Rose and Callie, both of which could easily avoid it by staying just out of reach.

By only shooting the ground when facing Akash's back, Rose could charge one more Skydive.

She made eye contact with Simon, and they both came charging in to the center of the platform, yelling wildly.

Akash finally made the decision to stand. As Rose flew upwards, Akash abandoned his weapons, choosing to leave them all tumbling to the surface.

All of his artificial limbs pressed against the platform, simulating a jump. The ends of each limb except for one of his arms became a thruster which propelled him to Rose's height.

Rose hung in the air for a moment, and Akash exploited the moment of stillness to grab Rose by the collar with his arm, preventing her from rocketing downwards.

She hung from his arm for a fleeting, helpless moment before an idea came to her. She brought her right arm to her headset.

"Catch!"

She threw her Dualies downwards, accidentally sending them in different directions.

Marie caught one that almost fell off the platform. Callie caught the other with a dive.

Akash tried to drop Rose back down, but she held on to his arm. Marie passed the other Dualie to Callie, then she left her Roller on the platform. All three of them super jumped to Rose.

Akash was too busy trying to shake off Rose, so Callie had time to sail above him and hang in the air for the moment. Simon landed on the other arm that tried to grab her, then Marie slammed the butt of her Charger into the last intact arm, pushing it away for a vital split second.

Callie grinned mockingly at Akash, then she fell, bringing him with her.

Rose and Simon kicked off of the arms they were holding on to.

Callie landed in the dead center of the platform, creating a twister of swirling color that spun around for a few seconds, forcing the arena to descend, then fell with a splash.

The ink cleared from the air, hitting the ground with a thud.

Akash lay in the center with Callie's fist pressed against his chest. She stood up and walked away once she saw that all of his limbs except for his non-artificial arm were detached. The Skydive ripped off the metal protecting the orange spots, leaving all of the metallic limbs in a sprawling mass of scrap.

Once Callie reached the edge, the four stood in the cardinal directions of the platform.

With the arena lowered, two people immediately jumped to them. Barry and Sky both landed.

They approached Akash, warily keeping some distance between him and themselves.

The others stayed silent.

"I think I see what you were trying to do," Barry stated, "but did you really think enslaving two entire races was the best way?"

"It's better up here, I agree with that," Sky said, "being underground and forced to fight must've been terrible. How I survived down there, I don't know, but I don't plan to go back. Most of them on the surface have really accepted me since I escaped. And," she said, looking up, "the scenery is beautiful."

Akash was staring directly at the sun as if trying to blind himself, not making eye contact with either of the two.

"What was your motive?" Barry asked. "Other than..."

"Annabelle..." he said, reminiscent. "Lost..."

One more super jump reticle appeared, right on top of Akash's immobile body. As Octavio landed on to p for him, he pressed his knee against Akash's chest and pinned his neck down with his right hand. In his other, he held a rectangular piece with two spikes protruding from one end.

A flash of blue electricity jumped between the spikes, revealing it's purpose.

Akash looked at Octavio in the eyes. "I guess I deserve this, huh?"

Octavio thrust it down, fitting the spikes around his neck, removed his right hand, and activated it once more. Akash didn't even yell or show any sign of pain.

After a few seconds, he lifted the device up.

Akash was motionless. He wasn't splatted, he was just gone. With no sign of life left in him.

The four Agents, Barry, and Sky looked on in horror, but said nothing. None had seen a lifeless corpse on anyone before, but Octavio's rage brought him to do what he had done.

Octavio searched Akash's pockets and found a remote control. He placed it on the ground along with the taser, then swept the remote aside as he crushed the taser with his heel, grinding it to pieces.

When he was done, the taser was unidentifiable.

He dropped his headset on the ground.

Octavio lifted Akash in his arms and super jumped again to some unknown location outside of the city boundaries, leaving the backpack and metal arms.

The wind died down, leaving a moment of eerie silence among the six on the platform.

Rose cautiously walked over to where the remote was swept, picked it up, and examined it. "It controls this platform."

"Annabelle," Simon said, "was that his fourth child?"

"Yes," Barry said, "We never thought it would be brought up."

Another few seconds of silence passed.

"What now?" said Callie.

"We bring back this thing," Marie said, pointing to the platform below her.

"Yes, I agree," Barry said. "You four need to rest. We'll handle things here."

With that, Barry jumped off of the platform to act as the temporary leader. Sky followed soon after.

The Agents gathered at the north side of the platform. Rose placed the remote on the ground and weighed down the northbound button with one of her Dualies.

The platform began to move, away from the diminishing chaos and to Inkopolis once again.

—

 **There**. It's (almost) done. I still have one more epilogue planed, then that'll be it.

For this story, anyway.

Thanks again, dear viewers. Whether you found me at the beginning, joined later on, or if you're reading this in the future, seriously, thank you. I'm not one of the better writers, and I have a pretty slow update schedule, but really, I had so much fun doing **this**.


	62. Light of a New Day

"...Why's nobody saying anything?" Rose said, a giggle breaking her sentence. "We're done with this!" She jumped up, a huge grin covering her face.

"I know, I know," Marie said, leaning back and using her arms to rest her head. "Just tired, that's all."

Callie stood up as well. "Stop trying to downplay this! We did the impossibe!"

A bird flying by swerved to avoid the platform's velocity. The tracks rushed by below. Rose set the remote to make the arena zoom to Inkopolis as fast as possible without making it too difficult to stay on.

"There are still some loose ends, though," Simon remarked, choosing to maintain his cross-legged position. "Here's one: where's the Piranha? The Eagle's gone, the Widow's fried, and the one I was driving a while back is in pieces at the bottom of a pit, but the Piranha is still missing.

"And where is this 'Annabelle' person?" Marie joined in while still lying on the concrete. "Clearly she was Akash's fourth child, but where is she, what is her stance on all of this, and why is she hiding? She must know how important she is by now."

"The other three children are out there," Simon interjected.

"There's still the matter of disabling the Hypno-Shades," Marie continued.

"The training camp past the forest outside of Inkopolis."

"Any remaining people loyal to Akash."

"Grizzco."

"Deca Tower."

"We get it, please stop." Rose said flatly. "But don't you think we deserve a rest?

Marie yawned. "What do you think I'm doing? We're ages away, might as well fast forward, right?"

"You go do that," Callie said. "Anyway, Rose, was Skydive always that satisfyingly good?"

"Duh, it was. I've used it so many times, and then,"

Simon turned out the girls' talking. Those two would go on forever.

He stared ahead; there was nothing else he felt like doing. Marie was right: They were hours away and moving about half as fast as the train.

He let his eyelids droop and fell asleep, the wind's call oddly calming in stark contrast to the chaos that raged just a while ago.

—

Inkopolis recovered in a matter of weeks.

At least the infrastructure did.

Deca Tower was one of the first buildings to be repaired. Most of the screens that ornamented its sides were still gone. The only one that was replaced was the center screen that regularly played the news.

The Widow's remains were taken apart and moved off of the tracks so the train could enter the station.

The handful of homes that were impaled by the Widow was a simple task when compared to the disassembly of the giant on the tracks that caused the damage.

The community, on the other hand, took a long time to cope with the attack on Inkopolis, now called the Flash referencing the speed of the attack. Once the Hypno-Shades were deactivated by Marina from a large computer in the facility, the wearers were mostly confused. Many citizens — mostly Inklings, a few Octolings — had breakdowns that began shorty after they were told the hard truth about what happened to them by Off the Hook. A while after, they slowly faded away as they learned to live with it and realized that pretty much nothing would be changed except for one massive thing.

Inkopolis merged with the faction of Octarians living around the area.

Octavio's agreement with the mayor of Inkopolis was entirely televised, but Ocatavio elected to stay in octopus form the whole time. He was intimidating, so nobody dared to mention it. The underground was still populated, but the metaphorical wall separating the two areas was taken down.

This sparked a change in the world, as more and more cities followed Inkopolis' lead. Their own nearby factions of Octarians also emerged from the depths. Octavio was busy in the days that's followed.

And then Turf Wars had a grand reopening two weeks after everyone was returned. Grizzco remained closed for the time being.

On another note, the coolers were mostly destroyed, but a few were kept for research. The film inside the cooler could only be deactivated when a large amount of ink hit it at once. Like anything involving ink, it wore off as the airborne bacteria consumed it.

Every cooler was part of a pair. One led to the other. In the case of Sharktown's attack, it led to several separate rooms inside of the facility in the forest that Marina and Pearl explored.

As for the war, as people were calling it, lasted no longer than a couple of months and had only two battles, but it was pivotal in history.

The death count? One. Akash was the only casualty. Even the Widow was remotely controlled. Akash was understood as the only problem by many, so most forgived the controlled Octolings. Nobody found the man who dealt the finishing blow or Akash's body.

Nor did anyone find the four Inklings that courageously confronted him in the sky. Two looked extremely generic, and the other two were constantly masked. Little was seen of the high-altitude battle as well.

They were like shadows, disappearing once the light of a new day touched them.

But a new day it was, and so the sun pierced the sky.

—

 **Well**.

That was short, wasn't it?

I've had this next part planned for a long time.

I'm gonna tell you all what it was like to write this story, but if you don't want to read that, just scroll to the bottom, there's an announcement there.

Honestly, the reason I even started was because Splatoon 2's main adventure mode was such a disappointment story-wise. I honestly liked 1's better.

And so, as a complete novice, the first fiveish chapters were some of the worst things I've ever written! I was wavy too heavy on the quotes and didn't give enough detail or description.

When it was in its earliest stages, I planned for Cap'n Cuttlefish to be the secret behind-the-scenes master of Grizzco, but I completely scrapped that when I realized there was no story potential.

Anyway, I still loved writing Liberation and the chapters before it. It had many story elements I repeatedly came back to (The Eagle, Lab, Morgan)

But then came the chapters between that one and Four. I can say definitively that story-wise, they're the worst parts. It was a horrible idea to "just write whatever as I go." I kinda just bs'ed my way through those areas. It picks up in the chapters leading up to Four, but that was because I actually started planning again.

It felt amazing to realize that I could combine pretty much everything and compile it into the attack on Inkopolis.

One of my favorite paragraphs of the story was toward the end of Four, where Rose was staring at the rest. It sounded really good for the most part, but it was here that I realized I should be proofreading more carefully. "Wane don't" was supposed to be "wanted," but autocorrect didn't want that.

Another mistake I made after that was to completely change the premise of the story. I was risking a lot by just shifting everything. If people came for what was beforehand, then they would want stuff more like that, right?

ANNOUNCEMENT HERE LOOK AT THIS please

The sequel is confirmed! It's been confirmed for a while now, and you'd know if you saw my profile or the reply to that one reviewer a while ago, but I'll explain more of it here.

The main character will not be any of the first four Agents. It will be a character that appeared in this one, but now, they'll take the spotlight.

The action will be toned down a lot. Some will still be in there, but it's focus would be more lore-centric.

And for the rest, you'll have to wait!

One more thing. If you're planning to review, please answer these questions.

1\. What was your favorite/least favorite part of the story and why? It can be as large or little as you want.

2\. Same thing as above, but with characters. What was your favorive/least favorite character and why?

Thanks again, I love you all. I'll be taking a bit of a break before I begin work on The Alias, so be on the lookout for **that**.


End file.
